Brother of the More Famous Jack (Black Swan S.)

Brother of the More Famous Jack is the first novel by British author, Barbara Trapido. It won the 1982 Whitbread Special Prize for Fiction. Katherine Browne is somewhat surprised to gain a University place in London after her interview with philosophy Professor Jacob Goldman, and even more surprised to find herself taken to his country house by a prospective lover. It becomes the first of many visits, as Katherine is enveloped into this large family’s chaotic life. Almost inevitably, she falls for Jacob’s eldest son, Roger. And just as inevitably, when the relationship ends, she flees to Italy, where a very different life awaits.

This is a novel that proceeds at a gentle pace; the plot is perhaps a little predictable, yet there are plenty of surprises and, towards the end, many laugh-out-loud moments. Trapido’s characters have depth and appeal: all have their flaws, but are often the more loveable for them. Trapido treats the reader to some wonderful prose: “He fixed me under his black horsehair eyebrows with what I took to be smouldering animosity……..He had hair to match his eyebrows sprouting, intimidatingly, like sofa stuffing from the neck of his open shirt” and “…whatever the Goldmans’ furniture says about them, it also says that they are articulate enough to contradict what it might attempt to say” and “In a house full of talkers Roger never talked much. He always disliked the unremarkable small change of conversation” are a few examples. An amazing debut. 4.5 stars