Review
Louise Dean's debut novel is about death - the imminent physical death of Jan, who is suffering from terminal cancer and who has only a matter of weeks to live, and the slow death of two relationships. Yet out of this sombre material, Dean has produced a sparkling novel, full of wit and gentle humour, shot through with tender, compassionate observations of the minute details of human existence. Jan and Annamieke are slowly suffocating in a deeply unhappy marriage. Jan has been dying for six years, when their sons treat them to a Caribbean holiday; a last holiday together and a chance make a final attempt to salvage something from the wreckage of their relationship before it is too late. George and Dorothy, a staid, elderly couple terrified of change and addicted to routine, also find themselves in the same resort, thanks to the generosity of their granddaughter. Out of their depth in the rarefied atmosphere of the resort, they gravitate towards the gentle Jan and his sophisticated wife, and an unlikely friendship is born. This tropical idyll is shattered when Dorothy disappears, and George is forced to confront the truth about his wife's mental state. Jan too must face up to some harsh realities about Annamieke and her needs: her veneer of sophistication begins to crumble and it seems that the end of the marriage is inevitable. Becoming Strangers is an acutely observed portrayal of the horrors which lurk beneath the surface of each ordinary life, and the deep desire of every human being to be loved. (Kirkus UK)
Tourists at a fancy hotel on an unidentified Caribbean island find their vacation package includes the specter of death as well as skinny-dipping and anonymous sex. Among the vacationing couples in Dean's debut novel, which was long-listed for the 2004 Man Booker Prize, are Belgians Jan and Annemieke. Jan has been fighting cancer for six years; it is now terminal. He's hoping for a reconciliation with his wife at the end of their long, rocky marriage, but Annemieke is more interested in self-gratification. She initiates sex with an unattractive guy named Bill in the massage room and later offers Adam, an English staff member, $150 for sex in her bedroom; she's 49 and feels opportunity slipping away. The British George and Dorothy Davis are much older; he's 79, she's 82. The old-timers bicker constantly, so it's a surprise when George later says Dorothy is "a good 'un. A pal," and more of a surprise to learn that she has Alzheimer's. In one of the novel's two main episodes, she wanders off dazedly into the countryside. After she's retrieved, she still manages to pull off plenty of one-liners. The other episode concerns Adam, Annemieke's stud. After he's serviced her, she cries rape, and things look bad for the Brit until her earlier fling is revealed. That's the action, such as it is, but Dean squeezes in several monologues. George confesses to cheating on Dorothy; Jan reveals "a brush with evil" in Belize; and Bill talks of his alcoholism and how it drove his wife to suicide before he turned to God. These monologues are more convincing than are the minor characters, especially the beautiful Chinese woman who wants Jan to elope with her to Paris (where else?) and swear unconditional love as he dies in her arms. Dean's grasp of the material is shaky and her voice erratic. (Kirkus Reviews)
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