A Spot of Bother follows a Curious Incident
1:22pm Thursday 6th March 2008
George Hall is 57, happily enjoying his retirement building a studio in the garden where he will paint. But then, as he stands in a fitting room in Allders in Croydon, trying on a suit to wear to Bob Green's funeral, he discovers a lesion on his hip and immediately fears the worst.
His doctor's diagnosis of eczema fails to reassure him and George's anxiety begins quietly to spiral out of control, undetected by his wife and two grown-up children, whose attention is firmly focused on their own complicated lives.
Daughter Katie has just announced that she and Ray are going to get married, which causes considerable consternation because, as brother Jamie observes, Ray has "strangler's hands".
And Jamie has problems of his own, precipitating a crisis in his relationship with Tony when he fails to invite him to the wedding, while Katie herself has serious doubts about whether she's doing the right thing.
The one person who might be expected to notice George's increasing disconnection, wife Jean, is also distracted, not only by the forthcoming nuptials but by the affair she is having with a former colleague of George's.
A Spot of Bother is, at first glance, totally unlike the enormously successful The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, but like its predecessor, Mark Haddon's second adult novel provides an insight into extreme behaviour.
But where A Spot of Bother works so brilliantly is in its uncomfortably credible depiction of George's catastrophising, something that anyone who's ever had a headache so severe they think it's an indicator of imminent death will relate to.
In spite of its length - around 500 pages - A Spot of Bother is compulsively readable, it's as hard to put down as a plot-driven thriller, the writing so (apparently) effortless that every page is a pleasure as satisfying as a mug of hot chocolate on a cold day.
About Mark Haddon
Mark Haddon's first novel for adults, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, has become a favourite of readers' groups and was the first book to be published simultaneously in two editions - one for children and one for adults.
It went on to pick up a string of prestigious awards, including the 2003 Whitbread Book of the Year and the Commonwealth Writers Prize for best first book - despite it being his 17th, having written and illustrated books for children until then.
He also worked on TV projects, creating and writing Microsoap and winning two BAFTAs and a Royal Television Society Award.
As well as writing himself, Mark Haddon teaches creative writing for the Arvon Foundation and Oxford University. Away from the page, he enjoys marathon canoeing and, in his own words, "various other masochistic sports activities".
Points to consider There are certainly several laugh-out loud moments, but can it be described as a comic novel?
Can you empathise with George's mental state? Have you ever found yourself having an extreme and illogical reaction to something that has a simple and rational explanation?
What similarities - in style or content - do you detect between The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, and A Spot of Bother?
Would you describe A Spot of Bother as a typically British novel? What makes a novel uniquely British?
Which of the characters do you sympathise with most? Katie with her doubts? Jamie with his reticence? Jean and her late-flowering passion? Ray, who's trying to do his best? Or George and his slow, quiet disintegration?
How to Order
A Spot of Bother: £7.99, discount price £7.59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time : £7.99, discount price £7.59.
To order either of the titles listed, call the Hereford Times Bookshop on 08700 713317 or send your cheque/postal order made payable to Hereford Times Bookshop to: Hereford Times Bookshop, PO Box 60, Helston, Cornwall TR13 0TP. Please allow seven to 10 working days for delivery. All titles supplied subject to publisher availability.