Белые мыши

by Nicholas Blincoe, Николас Блинкоу

Jamie and Louise look more like twins than brother and sister. He is nineteen and should be in college. She is twenty and already washed-up as a fashion model. But when Jamie travels with Louise to her last fashion shows in Milan and Paris, he becomes part of the entourage of Gianni Osano, an ageing designer with a flagging reputation. As Osano's career goes into free-fall and Louise's begins to re-ignite, Jamie is suddenly the brother of Europe's most talked-about model. But then Jamie learns what they are talking about... - Rumour 1: Jamie and Louise are lovers, immersed in an incestuous affair. - Rumour 2: Osano's collection is funded by criminals. When the shows are over, he will die. Everyone believes the rumours. As the tour finally reaches Paris, even Jamie begins to think they might be true.

Genres: Fiction

293 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2002

About the author

Blincoe was born in Rochdale, Lancashire in 1965. After briefly studying art at Middlesex Polytechnic he attended the University of Warwick where he studied Philosophy, gaining a PhD in 1993. The thesis was entitled Depression and Economics. The thesis explored the relationship between political sciences and economic theories, with particular reference to the philosophy of Jacques Derrida.

Blincoe released a Hip-Hop record on Manchester's Factory Records in 1987 and his subsequent relationship with Factory records and the nightclub The Haçienda informed his early work.

In 1995, Blincoe married the Bethlehem Palestinian film-maker Leila Sansour, director of the documentary Jeremy Hardy vs The Israeli Army (2003).

Blincoe has written for British radio and television, including episodes of the BBC TV series Waking The Dead and Channel 4's Goldplated. As a critic and reviewer he has worked for the Modern Review, under the editorship of Toby Young and Julie Burchill. He was a columnist for the London Daily Telegraph until September 2006, writing the weekly 'Marginalia' column.

He is the author of six novels, Acid Casuals (1995), Jello Salad (1997), Manchester Slingback (1998), The Dope Priest (1999), White Mice (2002), Burning Paris (2004). He was a founding member of the New Puritans literary movement and co-edited (with Matt Thorne) the anthology 'All Hail The New Puritans' (2000) which included contributions from Alex Garland, Toby Litt, Geoff Dyer, Daren King, Simon Lewis, and Scarlett Thomas.

Blincoe won the Crime Writer's Association Silver Dagger for his novel Manchester Slingback in 1998. His early novels were crime thrillers set in or around his native Lancashire and the clubs of Manchester.

Some of his more recent novels reflect his life split between homes in London and Bethlehem. He is also a co-editor of a book on the International Solidarity Movement Peace Under Fire: Israel/Palestine and the International Solidarity Movement (2003) with Josie Sandercock, Radhika Sainath, Marissa Mcloughlin, Hussein Khalili, Huwaida Arraf and Ghassan Andoni.

Reviews

[Ian Mapp · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I don't sleep at all on the night of my 20th birthday, but I still somehow wake up in bed with Jodie Kidd."

Typical Blincoe. Enough interest to justify continuing it until the end but for a large section in the middle, things were becoming very dull.

The story is quite straightforward and thankfully saved by a nice turnaround in the last 30 pages. Jamie Greenhalgh is a student with a slighly older sister, louise, who is a top model. The pair of them travel around europe, with Jamie getting a job with fashion designer Gianni Osano.

Mid way through the book, the siblings sleep with each other. This piece is nicely written as you are not too sure what is going on and it genuiunely shocks, causing the reader to go back over the text. History between the two of them reveals that this happened a couple of times before when the boy was 14.

Rumours of the two's dalliance refuels Louises career and she is again hot property, living of the notoriety.

So where is this book going - the last 30 pages tie a lot of loose threads together and justify what was previously considered to be meaningless pre-ample. Gianni is killed by a shady business partner and Jamie is framed for the murder. He is arrested and the only person who can provide an alibi is his sister, but this would mean revealing a night of passion on a train.

Rather than do this - he simply accepts his face.

So what was boring is saved through a great final twist - in a book that you thought had no story.

I am not sure where to go now with Blincoe. This is the 3rd book completed and I suppose you have to say that enjoyment has been getting slowly worse.

[Mike Thelwall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't like the first chapter and gave up on this book. Six months later I had another go and loved it! In retrospect the first chapter is brilliant, although it took a few more chapters for me to appreciate it. Going behind the scenes of the fashion industry is a great idea too - adds an extra layer of interest.

[Kevin Connery · Rating 2 out of 5]

modeling

[Kerry Smyth · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst books I've ever tried to read. Poorly written with horrible, shallow characters that it's hard to feel anything for....struggled but eventually gave up.