Pause Between Acts - Mavis Cheek

Hello Everyone! It’s been quite some time that I reviewed a book. This by any chance doesn’t mean that I have not been reading them; just that I was not getting any motivation to write about them. Some of the worthy names that I have read now include “One night at the Call centre” (whose review didn’t see the light of the day due to a mistimed power cut!), “The girl with the pearl earring” (excellent love story) and “The Inheritance of Loss” by Kiran Desai (I am at loss of words for this one!) etc…so when I read this book; “Pause between Acts by Mavis Cheek, I decided to review it only if I liked the story…

Coming to how I found this book; most of you know and would now know that I work in a place that has easy access to books. So I am not doing a great deed by helping myself with the best of books; it is a done thing in my work place.

This time around, I was looking for a book which has a readable font, a nice cover and sounded different.What I mean by readable font is “a big font which reminds me of Enid Blyton days”; by nice cover I mean something different, this one has a human body with a flower at a very “ahem-ahem” position and the name sounds differently different.…so the book had to be issued!

The book is a winner of the She/John Menzies First Novel Prize which simply means that the book was a winner in a category of first books by some new writer. Mavis Cheekdoes an excellent job as a first timer and is bound to be good in her second too.

According to a leading newspaper, the comment given is: “A very funny novel with good characters and an inventive, well controlled plot…She is a shrewd observer with a fine ear for dialogue”.

To begin with, this is a story of a woman “Joan” and her life. She has just got divorced and like all divorces, it was unexpected. I take the words back; not all divorces are unexpected, some are planned as well. But for Joan, it was nothing short of a shock which changed her life in the worst of ways. Her answer to the divorce was in a sense more passive, she decided on a life of contented seclusion and weirdly self indulgence. She closes her mind, her body and her soul to the outside world, including her parents, her neighbors and everyone in general. Mind you, she doesn’t get suicidal; she doesn’t throw tantrums or act guilty. Her life stops and she doesn’t make a conscious effort to change it either ways.

She starts working as a school teacher and gets some real advances from one of her colleagues who is someone,every other person drools on ;-) but Joan is not interested....

But as always, bad days never stay; Joan’s life has to change for good. Here comes a man, a famous actor, “Finbar Flynn”, who makes her isolation and seclusion corrode away. He is the one who is brought into her life, to make it more funny, exciting and eventful. Things start turning naughty, cute, stupid and sometimes weird. The end is a beautiful combination of smiles, laughs and a sigh! I will not tell you the end as it will spoil all the interest but then let me give you a hint; not all love stories have a happy end…this is a love story and do ends on a happy note; but in a way which you would never expect!

Coming to the writing style of Mavis, I will give her full credit. Mid way, I already knew what the end was and I was just finishing the book to reaffirm my already guessed answer. But voila! I was given a treat of expected and the unexpected. The novel in a strange way makes you smile, sit up and say “hey that is funny” of “that is so real”…it is this aspect of the book that makes me recommend it to all. I am sure that in a way this book will make you smile!!!

Since I am quite sure, most of you would not be in a position to get this novel for reasons unknown and known, I can help you with the unpredictable ending…let me know your answers and guesses and we can see who is the most creative of all...

For your reference, let me give you options as well…that is being so generous of me…gratitude notes and thank you’s can come later!!! Also the end has a happy feel for all 3... Joan, Finbar and Joan's school colleague the options are:

1. Joan goes back to her usual self and Finbar goes his way for reasons unknown.

   
   




2. Joan and Finbar get married but sulk for life.

   
   




3. Joan and Finbar do not get married but sulk for life.

   
   




4. Joan and Finbar both get what they wanted but in ways not expected nor foreseen.

   
   

Just a note for all those who are lost in love or have lost with love; Life doesn’t end when a loved one leaves you for someone else or for some reason. It is frustrating, it is sick and it makes you cry as well. But in the end, think in this way:-> your life was always your own; do not let anyone “non worthy” make a mockery of it. A relationship is always two sided, if one side decides to drift apart, just think that it was god’s way of telling you that “this moron was never worth it”!!!

Comments and creative guesses are most welcome!!!

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