This is one of my ancient trade paperbacks that I bought on Amazon and received on Mo 11/4/13. No note on the flyleaf that I had read it, but parts of the novel were familiar.
I really liked the book because it is chock full of colorful characters and odd situations.
The first part of the novel is set in Cornwall, England. The rural southwestern county of Great Britain.
Elly is the protagonist. Her brother, Joe is five years older than her and he has been protective all his life. He has been gay since he was a very small child.
Charlie was Joe's childhood friend. Charlie's father was a diplomat and when Charlie's family left Cornwall Charlie is held hostage by radicals. His ear is cutoff and he is held for ransom. No one sees Charlie again until they are adults.
The second part of the novel occurs twenty years later so that you see the young children as adults.
Elly's father was an avid lottery ticket buyer and when he finally wins he feels completely unworthy of his luck. They make the home into a bed and breakfast and it attracts an odd group of people.
Elly's parents marriage is probably a sham. Her father's sister Nancy is a gay actress. She was in love with Elly's mother and she is the one that initiated the 'attraction' between Elly's parents.
Arthur is an older man who is into yoga and knows the moment of his death. He is hit on the head by a coconut although he was supposed to have run out of his money at the same time that he runs out of money.
Fro the New York Times review:
"“If this God couldn’t love me,” she resolves, “then it was clear I’d need to find another one that could.” This new divine entity is encountered some time later, after she tells her brother that she’s been sexually abused by their neighbor, Mr. Golan. “I’ll get you a proper friend,” her brother declares, as he holds her “in the darkness, as defiant as granite.” The new friend Joe finds for his sister turns out to be a Belgian hare, a pet she names “God,” who sometimes talks to her. Although Joe swears never to reveal Elly’s dark secret about their neighbor, it turns out to be mere prelude to total eclipse: the mentally disturbed Mr. Golan (who has lied about being a Holocaust survivor) commits suicide."
From Goodreads:
"Spanning four decades, from 1968 onwards, this is the story of a fabulous but flawed family and the slew of ordinary and extraordinary incidents that shape their everyday lives. It is a story about childhood and growing up, loss of innocence, eccentricity, familial ties and friendships, love and life. Stripped down to its bare bones, it’s about the unbreakable bond between a brother and sister."
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