A Kind of Eden by Amanda Smyth

An intriguing writer is Amanda Smyth. Intriguing in a I-can’t-quite-make-up-my-mind way. This was one of my ‘blind picks’ as I like to call them, a way of trying out new authors to keep my reading fresh, rather than sticking with the usual suspects. So I browse through the library randomly picking up books. I’ve no idea what attracts to me to a particular book, a particular author, what it is that stops my roving eye as it scans the bookshelves and urges me to lift it from its place. Something about the title? The front cover? Book in hand, I will read the blurb about the story, then about the author, then any testimonials if there are any. After that, if not sure, I will read a page or two, but that’s unusual. It surprises me how often I am happy with my choice. But not always.


Why did I choose this book? The fact that it is described as ‘a thriller that reads like literature of the highest quality’ would have appealed. I do love a nerve-tingling, keep-you-guessing thriller whose prose sparks off fireworks in your imagination. And so it was that I sat down with that thrum of excitement in the pit of my belly and opened to the first page.

This is not a thriller. There are elements of the thriller within, but in the main this is a character-driven story about human frailty and adversity. The main protagonist has moved away from his family in the UK to Trinidad for gainful employment in the police force so he can pay the bills. Left on his own, he embarks on an affair with a much younger Trinidadian and the story picks up the somewhat lethargic tempo, in keeping with the laid back lifestyle and the oppressive heat, with his wife and daughter visiting him and the complications that then ensue. Without giving too much away, the family have already suffered tragedy and there are further crises for them to bear in the Caribbean. There is a policeman and there is a crime, but this is no Morse, nor is it meant to be.

Smyth explores a number of themes in the narrative, including coping with tragedy; midlife crisis; trust; separation, geographical and emotional; family responsibilities; and love in all its many guises. It’s all handled competently enough, the characters are complex and fallible, and the narrative keeps you engaged, mostly. But there is nothing particularly original here other than the setting, which is unusual, and written about thoughtfully and truthfully. The thriller aspect adds some spice to the tale, but the ending seems contrived, an attempt to resolve the crime aspect of the story, but unsuccessfully. My main problem is with the protagonist who appears to bumble around the island without much of a moral compass and appears somewhat weak and ineffectual and, therefore, difficult to sympathise or engage with as a reader. Does this work as a piece of writing? I’m scratching my head. Will I read another of Smyth’s books? Probably not. My review, a puzzled 6/10.


Thank you for reading my book review. Your book buddy, Charles Whitmore.