Let me first state that
I almost always judge books by their covers. And the day I bought
Strange Nervous Laughter at the wonderful
Kalk Bay Books was no exception to this personal rule which has stood me in good stead for most of my reading life.
Bridget McNulty’s first novel literally sparkled its way into my hands. On the front cover there is a photograph of a girl on a beach, standing at the waters edge with the late afternoon sun behind her, holding a blow-up kiddies swimming ring. You can’t see her face, but her pose is slightly …awkward. The lettering of the title is in quirky green glittery font.
On the back, a picture of McNulty, cup of tea in hand, is also all a-glitter. It’s a pretty, girly-looking book that has a definite interesting edge to it somehow. You know this is not going to be your average chick-lit offering even though the writing on the back tells you that this is ‘a book about love’.
Six people, 3 of each sex, feature in this mystical tale which weaves their lives in and out of each others. The setting is ‘the hottest summer Durban has ever known’. The characters include a man who can talk to whales, a check-out girl who floats when happy (she immediately made me think of Barbara Trapido’s Juggling – I still wonder if that inspired McNulty to create this character) a garbage collector who attracts all things broken – including hearts and lives, a girl who lives in dreams and a rather creepy undertaker who paints cadavers’ toenails. Even the peripheral characters fascinate – take for example pop princess Candy K whose summer hit I Miss You So Bad I Could Puke forms an unlikely theme song throughout the book.
If you’re a realist who likes your novels earnest, gritty and 100% true-to-life, best to give this book a skip. If you can handle an “intriguing blend of lyricism, whimsy and wit” with a large helping of magic and lashings of black humour, I can highly recommend Strange Nervous Laughter.
Available at all good bookstores in South Africa, or online at amazon.com
Interestingly enough, it also comes with another cover, shown in the thumbnail pic (the heart shaped egg) - Personally I love my copy's cover!