Forgive

by Jenni Daiches

Life is a complicated business with no simple fix for damage done, casually or intentionally. In the face of her ex-husband’s need for forgiveness, Ruth wonders about its presence, or absence, in the important relationships of her life, the different things it represents to different people and what it really means to her.

People often take refuge in Ruth’s friendship. On one level, she is uneasy in the role of mother figure, dispensing home comforts to the motley group working out their own life crises under her roof. On another, she deeply enjoys the sense of living family it brings to the old house.

What should Ruth do about Netherburn? She questions her resistance to the idea of selling the dilapidated family home where she was born. By staying put, is she refusing to embrace life? Gradually Ruth opens up to Larry, a New York artist lodging at Netherburn, and he comes to understand quite how private, and passionate, this woman is. Does he have the strength to forgive himself and move forward in step with her?

Genres: Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published February 2, 2015

About the author

Jenni Daiches is the name under which literary historian Jenni Calder writes novels and poetry.

She was born in the USA, educated in the US and England, and has lived and worked in Scotland since 1971. She worked at the National Museum of Scotland in various capacities from 1978 to 2001. Both before and since she has worked as a freelance writer and lecturer.

Reviews

[Andy Marr · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's absolutely ridiculous that this book hasn't garnered more attention in the years since it was published. It's a fantastic work of fiction, and easily one of the best books I've read in the past few years. If you haven't read it - and, let's face it, you probably haven't - I strongly advise that you do.

[James Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jenni Daiches's second novel is a quiet but powerful portrait of Ruth, a woman of middle age, and her relationships - with her ex-husband, her now dead parents, her siblings and her children, and perhaps most of all with the various lodgers with whom she shares her run-down, rambling family home a few miles from Edinburgh.

The title points to the theme running through the book: nearly all the characters need to forgive or to be forgiven for past or present actions, attitudes or behaviours. The point is, how does one forgive, can one forgive, and what does forgiveness actually mean?

The writing is calm, uncluttered and full of astute observations. It captures how motivation, passion and intent can all change or be modified over time: human beings change, growing out of old selves and into new selves. Daiches's novel captures this beautifully. It is profound in a light-touch way, the descriptions of the house, the seasons and weather are very good, the dialogue is credible, and there is gentle humour in here too. There is also a chilling episode of violence which rings very true.

This is not a novel of thrills and spills, but it is engrossing and thought-provoking, and has left a lasting impression on this reader.

[Cherise Wolas · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intriguing novel, family life past and present, and thanks again to fellow writer-reader Andy Marr for turning me onto another Scottish writer.