Black Swan Green tracks a single year in what is, for thirteen-year-old Jason Taylor, the sleepiest village in muddiest Worcestershire in a dying Cold War England, 1982. But the thirteen chapters, each a short story in its own right, create an exquisitely observed world that is anything but sleepy. A world of Kissingeresque realpolitik enacted in boys' games on a frozen lake; of 'nightcreeping' through the summer backyards of strangers; of the tabloid-fuelled thrills of the Falklands War and its human toll; of the cruel, luscious Dawn Madden and her power-hungry boyfriend, Ross Wilcox; of a certain Madame Eva van Outryve de Crommelynck, an elderly bohemian émigré who is both more and less than she appears; of Jason's search to replace his dead grandfather's irreplaceable smashed watch before the crime is discovered; of first cigarettes, first kisses, first Duran Duran LPs, and first deaths; of Margaret Thatcher's recession; of Gypsies camping in the woods and the hysteria they inspire; and, even closer to home, of a slow-motion divorce in four seasons.
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(Whole Story Audiobooks, audiobook, 14 hours 26 minutes, narrated by Chris Nelson, Audible)
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[Do not set foot in my office]***
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I had a great time listening to Black Swan Green. This book is very different from the style I've come to expect from David Mitchell ( Cloud Atlas and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet are among my favourite ever books). Yet, it really works. The narration is excellent and really pulled me into the story. Black Swan Green could be dismissed as a book about a normal boy growing up. Jason goes through a lot but nothing really stands out more different than the experiences of many teenagers. Yet, that why Black Swan Green is so good. Ordinary lives and experiences can become extraordinary in the right hands. The book is divided into thirteen chapters or mini vignettes. The only real issue was the way this is structured in the audiobook. I would have expected each audio chapter to be a chapter of the book but it wasn't so the structure didn't work as well as it would reading the actual book. Still, Black Swan Green is a great tale.
