Acting Up (by Libby Purves)

I enjoyed reading Libby Purves’ novels the first time around, fifteen or more years ago, and I’ve been enjoying re-reading them in the past year or so. But ‘Acting Up’ didn’t particularly grab me when I read it in 2005, and although it’s a good story, well-written, it didn't appeal to me any more while re-reading in the past few days.

I think the problem is that neither of the two main characters really interested me. Callum and Susie both work in the army, which I have no interest in at all. They were due to be married, but have postponed that due to the Gulf War. Susie comes from a military family, and she’s organised, disciplined and if not exactly bossy, she does expect people to do as they’re told. She seems to struggle to feel sympathy for anyone who isn’t as strong as she is.

Callum is slightly more human, made more so when, after an attempted rescue in Iraq, he is seriously injured and sent back to the UK for rehabilitation. But I had so little in common with him that I could never really feel anything for him.

Probably the nicest person in the book is Francis, Susie’s brother. But his career, too, is so far removed from my own experience or interests that I found him very difficult to relate to as well. He’s extremely kind, and talented too in his field; but descriptions of his work are like another world, somewhere I would not dream of going.

The overall plot, I suppose, is about Callum: his injuries are severe, and he becomes quite depressed as a result. He’s angry too, and resentful, and Susie seems to be clueless - she is brusque and insensitive, trying to jolly him along rather than understanding even a faint hint of how he feels. So Callum decides, on the spur of the moment, to do something unexpected…

Libby Purves is good at characterisation, and her settings are realistic. She has travelled widely and was a journalist for many years, so her books, if not based on personal experience, are extremely well researched. So whereas all three of these young people appear to me to be caricatures of their types, I assume they must be real - that people like these, with these interests and career choices and personalities actually exist. But it’s hard to relate when I’ve never come across them; if I did, I would expect to find little in common.

Still, the writing drew me in, and there’s enough going on in the story that I kept reading. I had totally forgotten the story, and had no idea how it would end; so I was pleased that the threads are nicely tied together, and the future positive for all concerned at the end of the book. But unlike with most novels I read, I had no wish to read more about these folk, and just a day later am finding it hard to recall much of the detail of the book.

There’s a boat, too; Libby Purves is an experienced sailor, and her descriptions of travelling by sea are usually realistic, albeit with jargon that goes over my head. Perhaps the most positive part of the story is the strong bond of affection between Susie and Francis, siblings who are about as different as possible in personality, despite looking quite alike. And Susie does become a bit more sympathetic towards the end of the book.

Certainly worth reading, if only to give a little on-the-spot insight into the British army in Iraq during the Gulf War, and also some background to the exotic and unusual lifestyle that Francis has adopted.

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