My family went to England in May to celebrate the end of our teen's Gap Year. In London we rented a flat in Holland Park, which amplified my wild inner narrative of an alternate life in which I'm a Londoner. It also made my reading of Queen of the Tambourine, by one of my favorite authors, Jane Gardam, that much more atmospheric. This was my fifth Europa Editions book of 2012, on my way to my goal of reading twelve for the Europa Challenge.
Gardam is such an amazing writer that I can't really do her justice in a few sentences. This book is such an incredible read . I was enjoying the writing so much I didn't see what was coming, even though the blurbs refer to the main character, Eliza Peabody, dealing with "manic delusions." Gardam writes with such humanity and humor, her characters are so rich and full, that it never mattered to me how little actually happens in this story, plot-wise. A great deal happens in Eliza's interior life.
Eliza is writing to a friend, Joan, who as far as we know has taken off for the East, traveling around England's former colonies and leaving her husband, nearly grown children, dog, and lovely home. As the book progresses the reality of Eliza's "observations" and Joan's identity become clearer, but slowly. You get to know Eliza and the people in her life very well, until every small thing that happens matters terribly, and you are longing for this very kind but very troubled woman to make it through.
One of the things I love most about Gardam is that in her books there is nothing minor about the minor characters. She brings every one of them to life in three dimensions, even those who only appear in a scene or two. Barry, an AIDS patient Eliza visits in hospice, will go down as one of my favorite supporting characters in contemporary literature -- he is Eliza's foil and muse and shadow self, all in one complicated package. Lucien, a twelve year old boy who we only meet a few times very briefly, is a voice of wisdom and plays a key part in bringing about Eliza's renewal and healing. As Eliza says, "Oh, all the different kinds of love --"
The emotional and psychological depth of everyday life is so vivid in Queen of the Tambourine that it's left me considering people I know only casually, wondering what is going on in their minds, how they are seeing our shared experience. That's really what this book is about; the way that perception is shaded by our psyches as much as our senses. And the way our psyches are filled with the bits and pieces of our lifetimes' experiences.
Gardam fits each shard of Elizabeth's psyche together, showing us how they are cemented into place by her childhood, her young adulthood, her loves and friendships and losses and aging and even all the little moments in each day. But we don't see the author working this all out, it just happens beautifully and naturally as the book unfolds. Which is what makes Queen of the Tambourine so lovely and True with a capital T.
