The Sarah Waters Effect: Literary LGBT Books That Would Make Excellent Television

Since Tipping The Velvet caused jaws to drop nation-wide and Sarah Waters became a household name (at least, in the households that contained a closeted gay or lesbian teenager), her novels have been delicious fodder for adaptation: while it would normally be enough that she is a master storyteller, the lesbian relationships portrayed in novels such as Fingersmith and The Night Watch (showing tonight on BBC2) add an altogether more salacious edge for television.  Earlier this year, Matt Smith starred in the Christopher Isherwood life story Christopher And His Kind, suggesting a new trend in literary, queer drama.  Below are five suggestions for the BBC's next saucy, brainy romp.


Skin Lane by Neil Bartlett
On the strength of this novel, I feel bold enough to say that Bartlett is the male Sarah Waters: Skin Lane's 1960s setting is an urban labyrinth where old-school repression jostles against post-war decadence on the same commuter train.  Mr F, the protagonist, is a tortured loner who develops an obsession with his young apprentice.  The backdrop of the fur industry would make this adaptation visually stunning.


A Spot Of Bother by Mark Haddon
This book isn't quite LGBT; it's a family tale that revolves around the chaos caused by a wedding.  One subplot is about son Jamie, who is dumped rather suddenly and cruelly by his boyfriend and spends the rest of the novel coming up with ways to feel better (one attempt includes an inadvertently hilarious hook-up).  This adaptation could be as raunchy or as family-friendly as the BBC like, as the source material is warm and funny enough to entertain without having to titillate.


The Spell by Alan Hollinghurst
Hollinghurst's prize-winning The Line Of Beauty was a fantastic reimagining of Brideshead Revisited in the Eighties, and the BBC miniseries perfectly captured not only the beginnings of the AIDs crisis, but also the reign of the Iron Lady and the fall of the untouchable upper classes.  The Spell is only a slightly less ambitious read, following the doomed romantic adventures of Alex, an uptight professional who visits his ex-lover Justin and his new partner Robin for a weekend, only to fall in love with Robin's twentysomething son Danny.  The clash of country living with the drug-fuelled nightlife that Danny revels in would make this a colourful show, if nothing else.


Girl Meets Boy by Ali Smith
Part of the Canongate Myths series, Girl Meets Boy is a modern retelling of the legend of gender-swapping Iphis.  Smith's prose is on a par with that of Sarah Waters, Ian McEwan and any other modern writer you care to name.  Gender swaps have made for some dodgy TV entertainment in the past, but the story here is strong enough to carry the concept.


The Passion by Jeanette Winterson
Venice.  Napoleon.  A girl with webbed feet.  The lush imagery and period setting of this magical realist novel would provide a beautiful and fantastical backdrop for an adaptation, which follows the life of Villanelle, a curious creature with a thirst for life and a craving for the love of a bad woman.  A miniseries version would perfectly compliment the numerous Dickensian films the BBC churns out each year, while adding more flamboyant touches such as a man with a glass eye and a seductress who keeps the hearts of her conquests in a jar.

What do you think?  Who should be the next LGBT author to sky-rocket now that the BBc have more or less exhausted Sarah Waters's back catalogue?  Suggestions in the Comments section please.

~

Father's Day Reads

To celebrate Father's Day this coming Sunday, I've put together a list of books that examine the role of a father in literature and in life.  From complicated father-son relationships to daddy's girls, the father figure is a compelling one - below are some of the best (and one or two not-so-great ones).

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I've commented in a previous post on my affection for Atticus Finch as a character and role model for fathers.  What I particularly like in Harper Lee's portrayal of him is that there are occasions where Atticus and his daughter do not see eye to eye; the narrative is coloured by Scout's perceptions, and it is only after the fact that she realises her father was in the right all along.  One excellent example of this is when Atticus forces Scout to spend time each day reading to their cantankerous old neighbour, for seemingly no reason at all - but of course, Atticus knows better.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The story of a father and son's journey across a post-apocalyptic America, The Road uses economy of plot and language to show the simplest and most profound of relationships.  The father in this story is the kind of man who would throw himself in front of a train to save his own son.  It's a rather grim read, yes, but an incredibly moving one too.

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

The protagonist of this novel and three more after it is Jackson Brodie: ex-army, ex-police, private detective and most importantly father to Marlee.  Whilst the core plot of the novel centres on investigating murders and disappearances, Kate Atkinson uses the relationship between Jackson and his daughter to speak out against the sexualisation of preteens and to comment on the loss of innocence that seems to be occurring at a younger age in each generation.  Burdened by the knowledge of what some men are capable of doing to young girls, Jackson is torn between keeping Marlee in blissful ignorance and preparing her for potential danger.  If all little girls must grow up, he muses in my favourite passage, why can't they all turn into action heroines like Ripley and Sarah Connor?

A Spot Of Bother by Mark Haddon

I must admit to reading this novel with a growing sense of frustration.  The soap opera style plot centres around a family that threatens to fall apart in the lead-up to daughter Katie's wedding.  Mother Jean is having an affair and son Jamie is in the middle of his own romantic crisis.  But the father, George, takes the biscuit.  He chooses this time to descend into madness, convincing himself he is dying of cancer and running away to live in a hotel.  If he were my dad, I'd have cut off contact a long time ago.

Notes From An Exhibition by Patrick Gale

Patrick Gale's novel is ostensibly about Rachel Kelly, a bi-polar artist and mother, and the aftermath of her death.  In her children's recollections, Rachel is remembered as both their favourite person and a tyrant, depending on her state of mind.  Forever in the background of the story is Rachel's Quaker husband Antony, a quiet and unassuming man who, it soon becomes clear, is a constant source of strength and support for the entire family.

5 Modern Novels That Deserve To Be Classics

For a heathen like me, reading a good book or coming across an immensely talented author is probably the closest thing I have to a religious experience.  It happens quite rarely, but when it does, it's the most peculiar feeling.  I want to tell, no, order everyone I know to immediately go out and buy the book I've just read, but another part of me wants to hold this treasure back, keep it all to myself.  I think it stems from my teenage crush on the Scissor Sisters, which faded as soon as they became immensely popular.  Nobody likes their own private joy to become mainstream.

On the other hand, there are some novels that I read and instantly find myself hoping that other people feel as thrilled by it as I do, that it will be the topic of discussion in book clubs and living rooms all over the world.  Because some books are just that good.  Here are five modern novels which I feel deserve widespread, long-lasting admiration.  I hope there's something on this list for everyone!

5. The Green Mile by Stephen King

Until this spiritual, heartbreaking serialised novel hit the shelves, the world had seen Stephen King as a horror author and not much else.  "Horror author", in this context, not particularly being a compliment.  Then he penned the tale of John Coffey, a gentle giant on death row with an extraordinary gift.  The film adaptation serves as a lesson in how to adapt a novel, as the story has incredible power in either medium.

4. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Eugenides's first novel, The Virgin Suicides, was a poignant and pensive fable of innocence lost.  His second book, Middlesex, massively ups the ante in ambition and scope, spanning several generations of an immigrant family, tracing a rogue gene through time and culminating in the birth of Calliope - protagonist, narrator, hermaphrodite.  This is no literary gimmick, however; Eugenides follows Cal's story believably and lovingly from being raised as a girl, through a shocking and transformative adolescence, all the way to adulthood, by which time Cal is living as a man.  Written with humour and intelligence, Middlesex makes me wish Jeffrey Eugenides would write more books.

3. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

I've raved about this book before, so forgive me if this all sounds a little familiar, but months down the line the story has stayed with me.  A handsome but arrogant porn star and drug addict is involved in a car accident that leaves him drastically disfigured.  While recovering in the hospital, he is visited by a woman named Marianne, who is clearly deranged but also entirely bewitching.  She tells him that they've met before, even though he has no memory of this encounter.  What follows is an eight hundred year love story, a trip around the world and a journey to the very heart of Dante's Inferno.

2. A Density Of Souls by Christopher Rice

I've included Rice's second and third novels The Snow Garden and Light Before Day in previous lists, but his debut A Density of Souls is probably my favourite.  It is in turn a coming of age story, a revenge tragedy, a romance and a horror novel.  Four friends enter high school and are immediately pulled apart - by bullying, by their own selfish desires, by love disguised as hate and vice versa.  What happens to them as teenagers sends ripples throughout the rest of their lives.

1. Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
I first read this book when I was meant to be revising for a French exam.  Subsequently, each time I revisit it I get the same rush, as if I am doing something slightly naughty.  It is a feeling that goes well with this read.  The premise is a very, very loose parody of The Omen, but the duo of writers have taken a step back and seen the bigger picture.  The opening chapter introduces us to Aziraphale, an angel, and Crowley, a demon, who are seen conversing as Adam and Eve are booted out of the Garden of Eden.  Their friendly banter is a running motif in the novel, as is a book of prophecies by Agnes Nutter (the world's only reliable psychic) and the adventures of young Adam, a perfectly ordinary boy who just so happens to be the Antichrist.  Good Omens works as an intelligent, good-natured satire, but also as a not-too-serious meditation on human nature.

Some other books I wanted to include in this list are The Road by Cormac McCarthy, Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon - but I reckon they're going to go down as classics anyway.

5 Great Books Summarised In One Sentence

Don't worry, this is a spoiler-free zone!

5. Atonement by Ian McEwan
An epic, heartbreaking novel about how your life will fall apart if you use the "C" word.

4. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Gripping story that will terrify the parents of university students everywhere.

3. A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
Four people decide to kill themselves, then don't.

2. The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time by Mark Haddon
The most unconventional and rewarding murder mystery you will ever read.

1. Carrie by Stephen King
Beware teenage girls who have not had the birds and the bees conversation with their mothers.