Customer Reviews

Becoming Strangers

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Louise Dean's first novel focuses on the stories of two couples who travel to a holiday resort in the Caribbean as a treat from their children. None of the four individuals particularly want to go on this holiday, but they feel obligated to because both couples realise that it might be the last one that they have together. Both couples are struggling to deal with illness. A middle-aged Belgian couple named Annemieke and Jan go on this holiday with the knowledge that Jan is suffering from a terminal cancer. The older English couple named George and Dorothy realise that Dorothy is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's disease. Despite the depressing idea of couples going on a final holiday while facing their own mortality may seem terribly depressing, Dean is able to suffuse the narrative with comic touches that gives it a great deal of humanity and makes it a rewarding, moving read.

This thirty-four year old writer has unusual insight into the complex way a long term marriage can develop a significance beyond the mere routines which come with the bonding of two people. In some ways the individual identity of each person becomes lost because the memories from each of their lives are inextricably linked to this other person. What the characters in this novel are struggling to decide is if they will lose their own sense of themselves if they leave their partner. George tries to meticulously record his past by writing a memoir and Annemieke attempts to completely rediscover a self worth in anonymous sexual encounters. Dean's writing is incredibly enjoyable to read in its richly detailed short chapters and startlingly emotional scenes. At the same time it is able to explore some very complex ideas about the nature of relationships and personality in original, meaningful ways. This is a unique and beautiful first novel.

Against a lush Caribbean landscape, two couples on vacation meet and act out the small dramas of their marriages in a careful study of relationships honed on habit and unhappiness. But in this tropical paradise, an elegant resort that caters to its guests' every whim, both couples will come to terms with the realities of their choices. Jan DeGroot is dying of cancer, although he has gamely fought its determined advance for the last six years: "The knife-and-forking of his body seemed to give a perverse impetus to his will to survive." This Northern European couple has been sent on their "last holiday" by their grown sons, Annemieke DeGroot long trapped in her own discontent, almost anxious to get on with the rest of her life, her beauty fading while she waits for Jan's demise. In contrast, George and Dorothy, an English couple, have been married nearly sixty years, their habits entrenched with the daily bickering over nonsense that has become familiar.

George makes friends with Jan, though Dorothy and Annemieke could hardly be less compatible. Yet the heightened awareness of distance brings a flavor of friendship, at least for the men, who surprisingly find a sympathetic ear as they exchange stories and disappointments, lingering over drinks. While Dorothy drifts along in her own musings, George's complaints turn to a more honest appraisal of their shared years: "You couldn't tell him that there was any marriage that wasn't equal measure love and hate." Even Dorothy enjoys occasional insights, although she'd rather be at home amid her things: "Being an old lady was not as hard as being an old man." With a supporting cast of other resort-goers, a South African with a penchant for honesty who has a short fling with Annemieke, a long-haired, tattooed tile-setter, "the Americans" who demand their needs be instantly attended and the resort director, Jan and George sort through memories and plans for the future, limited though it may be, while Annemieke thrashes about in an effort to avoid her own shortcomings.

The characters are drawn with deft precision, their flaws and eccentricities stark against the lush background of the Caribbean resort. Each couple suffers the detritus of years of marriage, the petty rivalries and jealousies, silences and resentments. The author writes with such clarity that each page bespeaks a glance into a mirror, these protagonists as familiar as the spouse who snores when sleeping or habitually remarks on the other's failures, days of meant-to-do-better, years finally passed. In a novel that is neither maudlin nor depressing, the author carefully manipulates the myriad contradictions of each marriage with a compassionate eye and a talent for incisive observation, balancing flaws, fictions and attributes in an incisive characters study. Luan Gaines/ 2006.

We all look forward to vacations, the fun, the time to reconnect with our loved ones. We have great expectations and sometimes those expectations don't match up with the reality. In Louise Dean's new book she writes "holidays are an agreeable palliative for an ailment mankind barely knows how to complain about: the life we have made".

Jan and Annemieke are from Belgium and have been given a Caribbean 'last holiday' by their two sons. Jan has cancer and has been told that there is nothing more to be done. His wife, has come along to look for a really good time. This is a couple whose marriage has come apart. Annemieke is tired of waiting for Jan to die. While Jan wants to take a car an explore the island, Annemieke is is restless and spots a man that looks interesting. She initiates sex with a complete stranger, Bill Molloy, who by the end of the novel may be looked at as 'one of the good guys'.

At the same time, an elderly couple, George and Dorothy from England have been given the gift of a vacation by their family.
These two people turn out to be the kind of folks you would want to meet at any time. George is outgoing and friendly, his wife Dorothy, we find is in the beginning stages of dementia, probably due to Alzheimers. Jan and George strike up a grand friendshipo and Dorothy comes along for the ride.

There are several other people who bring their personalities to the novel, one a rich American couple who are the complete package of the hateful, rich, conspicuous Americans. Annemieke gravitates toward this group, and she finds that her aging body is not looked upon as kindly as the others. She is ignored at times and uses Jan's upcoming death as a means of sympathy. Annemieke looks for sex whereever she can find it, and it seems this has been her manner throughtout the marriage. Jan in the meantime reads, takes his morphine pills, and spends his time with George and Bil Molloy.

Louise Dean has given us a a book that is completely real. The rich characters are so fully formed. We come to know them and accept them. The writing is so superb that you are tempted to go back to the beginning to start again. I will most certainoy read her other novels. It is rare to find a writer, like Louise Dean, who grabs you with the first words from a new novel.

Highly Recommended. prisrob 01-29-12

The Old Romantic

This Human Season

Dean places her disparate characters in situations where they can choose between generosity or selfishness, honesty or deceit. Along the way nearly all them, in spite of their weaknesses and limitations (and although they often appear ridiculous) choose to give of themselves, in some way, to their fellows--they are full of surprises. Dean portrays the exceptions (the venture capitalists and their hangers-on, including the selfish, self-absorbed, self-pitying Annemieke) with devastating acuity. The scenes contrasting the picnic on the beach with the outing on the yacht are wonderful.

I have read other books by Louise Dean and so was tempted to try this one. Very engrossing. The plot line concerns two couples, middle aged at least, one British and one Belgian, who don't know each other but meet at a luxury vacation spot in the Caribbean. (For both couples the trip is a gift from their adult children). The main character, Jan, is dying of cancer, and this is supposed to be his last big vacation but the long-term strains in his marriage keep bubbling up. The other couple, older, also have deep issues. In the hothouse environment of a resort spa, others are pulled into this dance, each with their own baggage. I found it to be quite engrossing and recommend it (even though the ending fizzled a bit from my point of view). Come on, Ms. Dean, give us a more powerful ending!!

Had to wonder if the author was German or Danish, because the writing style is awkward and thought the novel was a translation or maybe she was knackered when pounding away on the machine with an extreme overuse of the thesaurus. In disbelief that the author hails from the UK.
If the book was cleaned up a bit, it would be much better. The social issues dealing with death, difficulties of marriage, loss of youth, alzheimers etc. are important and should be applauded for highlighting what most people find not worth discussing/delving into at length.

Thankfully I only spent $5 on this and little time. This is just one of the worst books I have read in a while. The characters are not developed, the story is slow and mundane, and I dislike how the English (the author lives in London) structures and organizes the written language - it just seems odd. The English phrases are just 'off' to me. There are spelling disparities and punctuation issues too. As someone else said, it almost seems as though some things were 'lost in translation'. I also was not surprised to see one of the five 5 star reviews was from someone in London. Bottom line is, there are just too many good books out there to waste time on this one...

Louise Dean's first novel is an uneven reading experience. Much of the text is involved in character study rather than telling a story; so the reader trudges through the novel. Of the two main couples, George & Dorothy are older. Dorothy is suffering from Alzheimer's disease and is gradually fading into darkness. She wanders away from the Caribbean resort where they are vacationing, which results in a half-hearted search for her. George meanwhile decides to write the memoir of his life, which entails how to build a refrigeration room for food businesses. The other couple is Annemieke and Jan. Annemieke is a rather cold woman who has suffered through a loveless marriage and now can't wait for her liberation. She has several affairs. The second is discovered with a resort employee Adam, who she then accuses of rape. Husband Jan suffers from cancer and will apparently soon die. All four of the main characters are depressing.

Bill Maloney is the most interesting character in the book. He's a minor, supporting character. Bill has casual sex with Annemieke as the book starts. He doesn't know she's married at that point. Bill is a Christian and has a moral code, although he also is comfortable knowing that he's a sinner who will seek forgiveness. His anguish over his affair and the impact it could have on Adam's rape charge is one of the better parts of the book.

Perhaps the best chapter is when Annemieke is summoned to the hotel operator Burns' office and has to confront her husband with the rape details and determine whether to press charges. Jan doesn't believe her. Jan appears attracted to a woman named Laurie, but is too sick to try to find love. After these little tragedies, the novel sputters to an end as the couples fly home, work out their relationships, and go on individual holidays. While Dean's storytelling ability is good, her subject matter and characters did not connect with me. Taxi!

I'm giving this book a generous rating of 2 stars because I did read it at one sitting. But I read it at one sitting because I saw a lot of potential to discuss the issues at hand - the examination of your motivations, relationships, wasted opportunities, etc. when you're coming to the end of life's road. But the discussion was trivial and ultimately didn't work because Ms. Dean gave us characters who, after 304 pages, I didn't really know or care about.