Bernard and the Cloth Monkey - Softcover

Bryan, Judith

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0006551963 ISBN 13: 9780006551966

Publisher: Flamingo, 1999

Synopsis

Bernard and the Cloth Monkey

About this title

Review:

Judith Bryan's first novel, Bernard and the Cloth Monkey won the 1997 Saga Prize, an award for unpublished black novelists born in Britain or the Republic of Ireland. The occasional narrative clichés apart, this is a cleverly-constructed, complex and harrowing account of the psychological trauma brought about by terrible family secrets. When 22-year-old student Anita Moore returns to her "homestead" in the suburbs of London after a three year absence, and three months after the death of her father, Bernard, she embarks on a journey that will force her to confront the past. Her younger sister Beth is housesitting while their mother is away on a cruise in the Caribbean, and Anita finds startling changes both to her sister and to the house, behind which the shadow of her authoritarian father still lurks. Flashbacks to episodes in the siblings' childhood insidiously reveal the reasons for her revulsion and fear, and for Beth's obsessive housework--a means of escaping anguish. As Anita comes to terms with the nervous breakdown which made her leave home, Beth's facade begins to break up and she too recalls the violence of her father and the collusion of her mother--the passive "cloth monkey" to which the two girls hopelessly clung like laboratory monkeys. Bryan explores two linked and damaged psyches in poetic and often dream-like prose. --Emily Ormond

From the Back Cover:

“Mummy’s just a cloth monkey. We both used to know that, Beth. Then you started acting like she was real.”

All siblings have their own version of their family, like pieces of a puzzle that don’t quite fit together; this is An’s. It is summer; the hottest for years. Her father, Bernard, is dead and Anita Moore has finally returned to the “homestead”. Everything has changed. Her mother has gone on a three-month cruise. Her sister Beth has put on a couple of stone and become a hausfrau. The homestead itself has been refurbished but the old house, the old order, floats just below the surface, like a ghost.

Through fairy tales, childhood friends and old lovers, a story of treachery, tragedy and shame unfolds. Can An and Beth overcome the legacy of the past, or will they stay trapped in their roles as children of Bernard and the Cloth Monkey?

“Judith Bryan’s skill at teasing out the details of the sisters’ lives and the mysteries of the family relationships make her novel original and gripping. The lively, rhythmic language, which moves between the poetic and the vernacular, is a pleasure to read. A brilliant and thought provoking book.”
JANE DRAKE, 'TLS'

“Bryan keeps a sense of direction as she explores a family history in 'Bernard and the Cloth Monkey'. Powerful material, remembered in flashbacks and dreams, is slowly revealed in the context of a hot London summer. This is an impressive debut.”
JUDY COOKE, 'Independent'

“Thoughtful, well-written, accomplished. She is a gifted writer.”
CHRISTINA KONING, 'The Times'

“A touching and astutely observed account of family life, strong on characterisation”
CHRISTINA PATTERSON, 'Observer'

About this edition

• Publisher: Flamingo
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0006551963
• ISBN 13: 9780006551966
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176