Book Review

The world seen through the eyes of a disabled, wheel-chair bound protagonist recalling his life during the British Empire and post war era; nostalgic for some past “Britishness” amidst a community unwittingly dysfunctional, snobbish, ignorant and bigoted. All changing with the passing of the Nationality Act in 1948, and the xenophobic reactions to a series of newcomers seen to be “infiltrators” somehow poisoning the respectability and (false) bonhomie of the original community. The protagonist trapped both physically and emotionally by his disability, remains stuck in a groove while unknown to him his wife is quietly helping the newcomers, whose responses after her death show deep intelligence, natural kindness and true neighbourliness. This insightful novella is at first an indictment of those who deny our long history of new settlements (Roman, Saxon, Viking and Norman) and the renaissance of culture and language they brought and finally a hymn to modern day multiculturalism. Ted’s final words are a warning to those who may wish to return to some perverse and cosy Britishness.

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