"A Saint in Swindon" by Alice Jolly

A Saint in Swindon

by Alice Jolly

A Review

A Saint in Swindon was born out of a literary experiment which is described in the book’s foreword and afterword.  The Swindon Artswords Reading Group invited Alice Jolly to write a story and discuss the “work in progress” with them.  The idea was that through this interaction with the author, the group’s members would understand better the process involved in getting a writer’s thoughts onto the written (or printed) page.  As the project evolved, however, more of the readers’ thoughts, tastes and ideas started to feed into the story.   A Saint in Swindon bears Alice Jolly’s name, but she describes it as a communal work “which we created together”.  Fairlight Books have now welcomed the work into their fold – an excellent choice of publisher, given the pride of place novellas are given in their catalogue.  

This project is interesting and laudable.  What is possibly more surprising is that The Saint in Swindon is a fine work which is enjoyable on its own merits irrespective of the experiment which gave rise to it.  It is set in a dystopian near-future, where rising temperatures and water shortage are becoming increasingly worrying.  In the midst of all this, a strange guest arrives at Hunter’s Grove, a bed and breakfast run by Janey (the narrator) and her husband Phil.  The man, who calls himself Jack MacKafka, barricades himself in his room and only asks to be provided with food and books.  Neighbours and friends are intrigued, and a cult starts to gather around the mysterious figure.  Meanwhile, the world descends into greater chaos. 

As befits a novella conceived by a reading group, the novella continually ventures into meta-territory. Janey and her friends are members of a book club and they try to figure out the visitor through the books he reads.  The novella references many novels (which are helpfully listed at the end). We learn about the genres favoured by the different characters – the genres are then promptly mimicked in the novella itself, which veers between dystopia and mystery, between comedy and Madame Bovary-style suburban realism.  It sounds like a bit of a mish-mash and it is.  However, the funny and likeable voice of Janey keeps the novella on course whilst raising some intriguing questions about the value of books and literature, particularly in times of crisis.   Alice Jolly does not provide answers to these queries:

I’m not going to tell you what you should think about it. The white space is yours and I know you will fill it with your own questions, thoughts and images. Welcome to the conversation. Make this story your own.

The creative process continues…

Paperback, 96 pages

Published April 15th 2020 by Fairlight Books