“Here we are” by Graham Swift

This latest novel by Graham Swift, probably best known for “Waterland” and “Last orders”, is a succinct read primarily based in Brighton during the summer of 1959.

Three main characters, the stage pairing of Ronnie Deane  and Evie White, with Jack Robinson aka Robbins, the show’s master of ceremonies. Ronnie is a magician using the stage name of Pablo, Evie his fiancee and glamorous assistant on stage. The main events all take place during the pier’s summer season. The couples act, originally a supporting role, gradually becomes the main attraction and top billing as their success brings in the crowds.

Ronnie’s background is recounted in detail, his early childhood in Bethnal Green, and then during the war his evacuation to the safety of the Oxfordshire countryside. Here he finds a second home with Eric and Penny Lawrence, and he has his own space and country air for the first time in his life, in reality a whole new happy existence. He stays with the Lawrence’s for the duration of the war, and it is Eric who teaches him the mysteries of illusion, his own hobby and sideline. He is a blessing to the couple, like the son they never had.

The war ends, Ronnie returns to his mother, who is a stranger, their relationship falters, and he moves out and then has the experience of military service which is where he meets Jack Robinson, and they become close friends so that when Jack can offer Ronnie a booking in Brighton they come back together.

Ronnie’s life is closely followed in the book, he is very much the central character, and it is the events of their summer in Brighton that this readable novel recounts, and the after effects of the closing weeks in Brighton. Do not be put off by the cover, there is also a parrot!