The Nick of Time

by Francis King

Francis King's provocative and adventurous novel looks at the havoc wrought when a young Kosovar- an illegal immigrant - finds himself in London. Mehmet leads a double life befriending and lodging with an elderly woman who suffers from MS, while at the same time having an affair with a woman doctor and throwing himself onto the London gay scene. Disaster looms when he begins a relationship with a gay protector - and is arrested because of his illegal status.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, British Literature

316 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2004

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Francis Henry King, CBE, was a British novelist, poet and short story writer.

He was born in Adelboden, Switzerland, brought up in India and educated at Shrewsbury School and Balliol College, Oxford. During World War II he was a conscientious objector, and left Oxford to work on the land. After completing his degree in 1949 he worked for the British Council; he was posted around Europe, and then in Kyoto. He resigned to write full time in 1964.

He was a past winner of the W. Somerset Maugham Prize for his novel The Dividing Stream (1951) and also won the Katherine Mansfield Short Story Prize. A President Emeritus of International PEN and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he was appointed an Officer (OBE) of the Order of the British Empire in 1979 and a Commander of the Order (CBE) in 1985.

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5, rounded up.

She managed to get to her feet with difficulty and then all but toppled over, putting out a hand to the back of a chair only in the nick of time. As she tottered to the kitchen - should she get the crutches that had stood, unused, beside the hatstand for so long? - she savored that phrase, the nick of time. Why nick? Then she thought: Nick means a little cut. And that is what times does to one, it gives these endless little cuts, until sooner or later one of them finishes one off. Another thought came to her: Nick means a prison. Time was the prison from which there was never an escape - until, well, something like this bloody MS at last prised open the door of one's cell.

Although this, King's 29th novel and his first to be Booker Prize nominated (his 1970 book, A domestic animal would subsequently be nominated for the 'Lost Booker' Award in 2010) shows all the outstanding hallmarks of his other luminous novels - the assured prose, intriguing characters and clever plotting - I liked it slightly less than the other 5 of his I've now read.

Partially, that's because it seems a much more languid book than the others - it takes its own sweet time to get going, and spends a bit too much time with the three central characters - the Albanian immigrant and de facto 'rent boy' Mehmet; his MS-afflicted landlady, Meg; and his paramour, lady doctor Marilyn - before introducing what is maybe the most interesting character, Mehmet's gay lover Adrian, who only appears in the last quarter of the book.

King also seems a bit less at home in the early 2000's than he does in his earlier books, set contemporaneously in the latter half of the 20th century. Still, the book is certainly a riveting read, and the unexpected and shocking ending more than repays the time spent in the company of these flawed characters.

[ERIC PECHINOT · Rating 4 out of 5]

No matter what we might think, we are all on the same boat, always so eager (desperate, even) to believe what we are told when it sounds like music to our ears and might well be our way out of loneliness and despondency.
That is mainly what it's about here, and that's why I took so much to this gloomy story, and its shrewd plot. Moreover, Francis King's "The Nick of Time" was written at a time when political correctness had not yet completely smothered creative writing, which in itself adds in my opinion a sense of lingering nostalgia to the whole thing.
It’s fascinating how stories like this one, with a dark and unsettling tone, can resonate so strongly when they tap into universal emotions like isolation or longing.

[Roger Pettit · Rating 4 out of 5]

The previous book that I read, the Booker Prize-winning ‘The English Patient’ by Michael Ondaatje, was pretentious nonsense. Francis King’s ‘The Nick of Time’ could not be more different from it. It’s written in a spare, controlled, understated style. There are no long sentences or flights of fancy. Its straightforwardness, its subtlety, its lack of fireworks, its perceptive characterisation and its sheer readability make it much the better of the two novels. ‘The Nick of Time’ was long-listed for the Man Booker prize in 2003 but seemingly got no farther. There really is no accounting for personal taste!

The story is set in London. The principal character is Mehmet, a charming, good-looking, illegal immigrant from Albania. His life becomes intertwined with that of Marilyn, a widowed doctor in Kensington, whose husband and daughter were killed in a car crash in Europe several years ago. Marilyn and Mehmet embark on a relationship, much to the disapproval of Marilyn’s sister-in-law and housemate, Audrey. Mehmet lodges with Meg in her flat in Dalston, north London. Meg is a former ballroom dancer with multiple sclerosis whose husband left her because he could not cope with caring for her. She becomes increasingly dependent on the wayward, predatory and manipulative Mehmet. Unbeknown to either Marilyn or Meg, Mehmet has a secret gay life.

‘The Nick of Time’ is essentially a story about loneliness, isolation and disconnection. The tone is melancholic; the prose style is limpid; and the storyline is fascinating. It’s a very good novel by a writer whose body of work is consistently good and deserves to be better known. 8/10.

[Gregisdead121 · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75
"She
savoured that phrase, the nick of time. Why nick? Then she thought: Nick
means a little cut. And that is what time does to one, it gives one these
endless little cuts, until sooner or later one of them finishes one off. Another
thought came to her: Nick means a prison. Time was the prison from which
there was never an escape – until, well, something like this bloody MS at
last prised open the door of one’s cell."

I'm speechless. Rarely does a book subvert every single expectation you had for it,and he better off because of it. Starting this right after inhaling another underrated gem by this author- 'A Domestic Animal ' - I was anticipating a dramatic gay love story revolving around unrequited love. Perhaps I'm speaking out of my ass but having delved into the works of quiet a few author's I've noticed that most circle the same themes from story to story. That even the construction of characters and mood can echo. Personally that is not a bad thing ,I enjoy witnessing how they chisel at this theme that has them so transfixed. But Francis Henry King, a prolific author of 28 books (The Nick of Time being his penultimate novel before his death) ,seems to have discovered a way to write a story that leaves little room for his own life to occupy blatantly.

'A Domestic Animal ' attempted to tame a desire so wild it couldn't even be named . The story ,revealed through his autobiography, to be the manipulation of fact into fiction- took a composite sketch of its author and played out a torturous infatuation with a straight Italian man. Its verisimilitude would inspire a libel lawsuit & editing of that book.

"The Nick of Time " eschews biography with a much more successful anthropological approach. Overlapping lives of vastly different characters are irrevocably altered by the arrival of an illegal Albanian immigrant. King's desultory passages work as those of Genesis, bringing to life a richly textured world. Reading him reminds me time spent with a Hollinghurst novel. Fine writing that makes words dissappear and images play out in your head. He cultivates these messy & affectionate dynamics between his characters that feel tactile while remaining accessible. Sure I had to look up a word or so but when I'd get the definition I'd routinely be floored by the caliber of his syntax.

Wonderful novel. So glad my tentative commitment to read books about the lgbtq community or by author's from that community, has made me prioritize such a gem. Why is this not widely known? Why is Francis King not emblazoned on every list about contemporary 21st century titans? I only discovered him because of my current Booker Prize hyperfixation . On that note how the fuck was this book 1) longlisted but not shortlisted for the 2003 Booker Prize 2) lose to fucking "Vernon 'God' Little by DBC Pierre? Sure, the 2003 shortlist was notoriously weak. I've read the winner and some of the longlisted books only to be underwhelmed . This was the year where judges infamously confessed to prioritizing 'readability ' - so there were a lot of best sellers, thrillers, plot action centric novels on the shortlist ,still this not making it onto the shortlist feels evil as Francis King writing is the definition of readability. Chapters end on cliffhangers, dialogue is fast and rhythmic. It did not need to only be shortlist when the nothingburger airport bookstore thriller 'Something Might Happen ' by Julie Myers Myerson soldiered on to the final stretch.

Getting sidetracked. Long story short : amazing . The ending will stay with me for quite some time damn. Please, please, please pick this book up!

[Siobhan Markwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This dark comedy is beautifully written but politically correct by the standards of 2024 it is not. It's the first Francis King novel I've read but apparently he's a grandee of English writing. From an Indian colonial background, with a rather sad childhood of being shunted between relatives in the old country and boarding school, King made a short but successful career in the British Council. This background shines through as he draws us into the world of Mehmet, a native Kosovan but now "illegal" Londoner. With only his sexy charisma, intelligence and instinct for good works, he attempts to forge a path to legal status in London. With a cast of other characters some loveable, many less-so, King sets out the human struggle and the human heart, desperate for love, eternally hopeful and eternally flawed, all in all, a really enjoyable read.

[Sps · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-done, though gloomy. I don't insist on charm and cheerfulness, but possibly I prefer it. (Oof--exceptions like Coetzee spring immediately to mind.) Very spot-on, very English, very messy in terms of situation, though not messy to read. Tense and unflinching about power and attraction and second-by-second modulations of those. The mood of the book is uneasy, flowing forward, like Wagner.

To whom would I recommend: fans of Murdoch or May Sarton's novels maybe, of Kiran Desai and Zadie Smith more likely. Maybe also Adiga for the underclass thing and thumbing one's nose at redemption.

[Robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

not the most riveting book, but easy flow and interesting characters. I will try something else by King before deciding on his work.