Discussion of the Book for September 2011
Posted by bangkokbookclub on January 9, 2012
“Brixton Beach” by Roma Tearne
Though a couple of people liked this book, most of the group thought it was disappointing and not well-written. The staggering number of tragic events in the life of the Fonseka family felt relentless and ultimately tedious, and did not seem to serve any purpose after a certain point in the book. The excessive amount of deaths or “disappearances” closed doors to interesting story-lines (Kunal and Sita; Alice and her Grandfather; Alice and her cousin) and felt artificial and melodramatic. The author’s choice to use the 2005 London Bombings as a segue to telling a story about the Sri Lankan War seemed flimsy and undermined the distinct differences between both those situations or conflicts.
The parts about art and sculpture were compelling, as were the relationship between Alice and her grandfather (until she moves to England) and Sita’s story. The rest of the characters felt like props, and most of us would have like to have known more about Stanley and how he increasingly became more involved with supporting the Tamil Tigers from the UK.
At least two members present at the meeting had a significant amount of knowledge about the Sri Lankan War, and were quite surprised by the amount of historical inaccuracy Tearne felt was acceptable to include in this novel.
