Being Light [Paperback]

Helen Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 23, 2012

"Imagine a satire on Cool Britannia made by the Coen Brothers." Times Literary Supplement

When Roy Travers doesn't come home his wife begins to suspect he has been abducted by aliens, and she enlists the help of a private detective to find him. But Roy was not taken by aliens. The truth is far stranger.

"This is a novel in which the ordinary and the unusual are constantly juxtaposed in various idiosyncratic characters - Its airy quirkiness is a delight." The Times

"A screwball comedy that really works." The Independent

"Wicked!" Time Out

Editorial Reviews

Review

Smith has a keen eye for material details, but her prose is lucid and uncluttered by heavy description. Imagine a satire on Cool Britannia made by the Coen Brothers. Times Literary Supplement

This is a novel in which the ordinary and the unusual are constantly juxtaposed in various idiosyncratic characters - Its airy quirkiness is a delight.
The Times

A screwball comedy that really works.
The Independent

Smith's world is as wacky as Nicola Barker's, but much funnier, less disquieting. Perhaps the Evelyn Waugh of Decline and Fall comes closer - She is a great snapper-up of unconsidered trifles - Wicked!
Time Out

Smith's second novel has a comic style with a clear, simple, buoyant prose.
Irish Independent

An exuberant, acutely observed second novel.
Shena Mackay, The Independent

From the Author

Being Light is a screwball mystery set in England. It's the critically-acclaimed follow-up to Alison Wonderland, which was a number one bestseller in the Kindle store in the US, the UK and Germany. Some of the characters from the first book appear in Being Light, including private detective Alison Temple, her best friend Taron--who is on a one-woman mission to save the world--and Mrs Fitzgerald, the boss of the detective agency where Alison works. But Being Light is a standalone book. It can be read and enjoyed without first having read Alison Wonderland.

The books are quirky comedies, set in a version of London in which everyone seems to know each other, neighbors take an interest in each other's welfare, and 'goodies' and 'baddies' are connected somehow--as if the characters were living in a small village with only about 300 inhabitants, rather than a city of 10 million strangers. I chose London as a setting because I live in London and I love it--but sometimes I wish it was more manageable, friendlier, more easy to understand. This is a London condensed into a version of Miss Marple's St Mary Mead, with edgy reality intruding occasionally into the cozy connectedness of the setting. Though there are surreal elements woven into the madcap adventures, readers will recognise familiar London landmarks. I hope you will enjoy inhabiting my imaginary version of London as much as I do.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 222 pages
• Publisher: Tyger Books (May 23, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 095651703X
• ISBN-13: 978-0956517036
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.5 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,692,892 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Helen Smith is a member of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain, the Crime Writers Association and English PEN. She traveled the world when her daughter was small, doing all sorts of strange jobs to support them both--from cleaning motels to working as a magician's assistant--before returning to live in London where she wrote her first novel. Her work has been reviewed in The Times, the Guardian, The Independent, Time Out and the Times Literary Supplement. Her books have reached number one in the bestseller lists in the Kindle store on both sides of the Atlantic.

Invitation to Die, the debut novel in her Emily Castles mystery series, is published by Thomas & Mercer.

She blogs at: http://www.emperorsclothes.co.uk. Sign up here to receive an email alert when a new book is published: http://bit.ly/U5KAF0

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#70 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery

#90 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery

#70 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery

#90 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Serial Detective April 5, 2010

By P. J. Salisbury

Format:Paperback

I ordered `Being Light' minutes after finishing Helen Smith's highly amusing first novel `Alison Wonderland'.

In `Being Light' the author introduces new characters in addition to some of those who were lucky enough survive past the end of the first story. All the characters are observed through Helen Smith's `satire-coloured spectacles' and are treated to her particular brand of quirky social comment. `Being Light' is a sequel in the sense that Alison continues her search for a satisfying relationship, while juggling parental responsibilities and her work for the detective agency. The rest of the story explores the lives and motivations of a curiously connected group of individuals, as a backdrop to solving the mystery of a disappearing husband. Each character displays a remarkable ability to drift full sail on the wind of fate, while striving to impose his or her will on an all too resilient destiny.

In reading `Being Light', I missed the mad-cap humour of `Alison Wonderland' but in its place I found a more closely controlled building of tension, especially in the second half of the novel. It is a subtly compelling page-turner and I had to keep restraining myself from peeking to find out if, in the last chapter, the errant Roy met with disaster or redemption. I cannot of course spoil the fun by giving even the tiniest hint...

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Quirky and compelling- 4.5 stars May 7, 2011

By GraceKrispy (MotherLode blog)

Format:Kindle Edition

Roy Travers is helping a friend set up a bouncy castle when the unthinkable happens; Roy is taken into the sky by a gust of wind and he floats away on the castle. His friend finds that hilarious, and it is. Hilarious ...until Roy disappears and never comes back. Roy's wife, Sheila, will stop at nothing to get her husband back, and that includes wearing a tinfoil hat and using pebbles to communicate with the aliens who have (obviously) taken him. How far will Sheila go to get her husband back?

Written by Helen Smith, this is somewhat of a sequel to "Alison Wonderland," a story that really highlighted Alison's journey to self-discovery. Although Alison is part of "Being Light," she is merely one small member of the ensemble cast, and the story is about so much more than Alison's life. Each character is connected in some way to every other member, and it is Roy's disappearance and Sheila's search for him that forms the tie between them. Each character has his or her own story and motivations, but the search for Roy eventually brings the characters together in a satisfying ending that answers most of the questions that cropped up along the way, while still leaving an opening for the imagination.

With the author's gift for cunning prose that manages to point out the absurdities of life while mixing in bizarre (yet somehow believable) situations, this book is a treat. From the attention-grabbing first scene (and creative way to create the conflict), to the compelling final culmination (the last words in the book imply the perfect image), I was engaged every step of the way.... Several of the characters had similar enough names that I had to concentrate to be sure I was thinking of the proper character (Jeremy-Joey, Sheila- Sylvia), and there were enough characters that it was sometimes a bit difficult to keep track of all the characters and their connections. But the well-planned pacing of the book brought those connections together in an utterly entertaining fashion, and everything made sense after all.

The author has a way of normalizing the offbeat, and wrapping it in a tight package that encourages the reader to look at life through a slightly different lens. Fascinating and delightful, this will appeal to those who like quirky romps.

4.5 /5 stars @ MotherLode blog Read more ›

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable character driven story July 20, 2012

By TopCat

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Roy Travers is helping his friend put up a bouncy castle for a fun day when he gets blown away aboard it and disappears. He finds himself in Paradise with an angel named Sylvia. Meanwhile his wife Sheila, unswayed by friends suggesting he might have run off with another woman or simply that he died in the freak accident, becomes convinced he has been abducted by aliens.

The book follows a cast of distinctive characters, whose lives are seemingly unconnected, but as the story develops the reader starts to see how they overlap. Some of the characters are larger than life and a good deal of humour derives from their views and actions in trying to achieve their aims, but there is also a sense of sadness that many are missing something from their lives, be it a person or a sense of direction. There are a lot of characters to keep track of but as the book progresses and their interactions become clearer it becomes easier to follow.

I enjoyed the satire and the wry observations about life the author makes, and I wanted to keep reading to find out what had happened to Roy but also to see who would finally connect with whom and how. I did find that because of the formatting on the kindle paragraphs ran together that probably shouldn't have, and it wasn't instantly clear that the action had moved, but careful reading and being engrossed in the story meant this was not a major issue.

I hadn't appreciated that this book features Alison of Alison Wonderland, had I done so I would probably have read that first to have had a greater background on her character but I think Being Light is perfectly capable of standing on it's own. It's a good, character driven story that I was desperate to finish to find out how things would turn out.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Deliciously inventive! July 22, 2012

By christuart

Format:Paperback

This lady author is new to me and I've never read anything quite like her before. The strength of BL is taking utterly recognisable situations and turning them on their head. The engaging opening scene in Brixton's Brockwell Park is a prime example, from the moment when both plot and the protaganist lift off from the mundane, everyday world into something altogether... other!

It's packed full of involving characters and situations, and the writing zips along with some wonderful touches and great one-liners. "Men are like cigarettes - I only want one when I'm drunk..." is just one example that made me laugh and laugh. I recommend this for when you're looking for a pacy read that is also challengingly out of the ordinary. Good stuff!