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In Search of Solace
LONGLISTED FOR THE FOLIO PRIZE 2015 AND THE GREEN CARNATION PRIZE 2014 Jacob Little is in trouble - existential trouble. Over ten years, he has tried out such a range of identities that he has lost all sense of who he is. Convinced that only his ex-lover Solace can help, Jacob sets off for her Scottish hometown, only to get caught up in the lives of four people with their own his self-deluding landlady, a teenager looking for a grand romance, an old watchmaker obsessed with time and a young girl who believes she's a boy. Each sees Jacob in a different light. For each, he is a catalyst. But where does that leave him? Or, dear reader, you?
- GenresFiction
352 pages, Paperback
First published August 14, 2014
46 people want to read
About the author
Emily Mackie
2 books5 followersEmily Mackie was born in Winchester in 1983 and grew up in Scotland. After graduating with an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University in 2007, her first novel, AND THIS IS TRUE, was published in 2010 and was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize as well as the Saltire Scottish First Book of the Year Award. Her second novel, IN SEARCH OF SOLACE, was longlisted for the Folio Prize and the Green Carnation Prize 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 24, 2014
Did he fall, or did he fly...?
`I don't want to know your name. Not your real name. You can be anyone with me. Anyone at all. Just make it up. Names can be so binding, so limiting.'
So. Who are we, really? Do we know? Are we all just a confection of untrustworthy memory, smoke, mirrors and lies? Does anyone really know anyone? Is anyone, anyone? Is there such a thing as an individual, a personality? Or do we all just make it up as we go along?
So who is Jacob Little? Is he a tragic, lost young man in search of life's purpose, who regularly adopts new identities, new obsessions - 17 of them, as the story opens - or is that someone else entirely? Does anyone know who Jacob Little really is or was, ever? Even his own diaries, carried from one life to the next in piles of green notebooks, don't really tell us. 'If it weren't for the existence of others', I wouldn't exist at all', Jacob writes - which is of course true for us all, in the physical sense, the existential, the spiritual, even the quantum. But it has particular relevance to Jacob Little, the man who never was.
There's a firm twist of quantum seasoning here, with a self-made - in the truest, purest sense - protagonist, who fervently believes in his 'Theory of Obsession' and his 'Theory of Others': that none of us has any identity outside that 'gifted to us' by those who observe us; that consciousness is just an illusion, a mutation, 'the parasite self feeding off the rest of him' but not real. A clever trick of the mind'. And the 'self', the so-called personality, a mere construct of invented peculiarities that mark us out from the herd.
We know all this because the narrator tells us. But who is the narrator, the omniscient voice, the ghost? Is it Jacob - the real Jacob? Or maybe his mother? Maybe nobody at all. We are never told; there are no absolutes in this tale of twisted identity and time.
This is, to say the least, an unusual novel. I was irritated at the start, impatient with the bizarre narration, the experimental style. But the annoying narrative voice evaporates in subsequent chapters, and the style settles to focus on Jacob and the people around him; those who think they know him now; those who think they knew him in the past. Jacob exists in the memories of those who thought they knew him, but each individual's memory of Jacob is so distinct in every detail, they might be remembering entirely different men. Jacob says he imagined jumping from the Clifton suspension bridge; Solace says he actually did, but Jacob says he didn't tell her what happened, so how does she know what she thinks she knows? Mr Benson thinks that travelling back in time on a quantum level could be possible. Not in our 'big, clumsy bodies, but elements of our consciousness could, thoughts like sound and light, creating waves in spacetime.' But is any of it true?
These characters - those who knew Jacob; whose observations, encounters, memories, make up what we know of the man who calls himself Jacob - are a fascinating and engaging cast. There's Lizzie/Max, a 9 year old girl who wants to be a boy, a child of firm faith who obsessively reads her Bible. There's Fat Sal, landlady of the pub where Jacob makes his final home. There's Mr Benson, landlord and watchmaker, who believed he could make 'a clock that proved time doesn't exist at all. A quantum clock that held everything past, present and future in one dimensionless point'; who knew Jacob and his mother and befriended Jacob as a boy; his surrogate son. There's Lucy - later Dr Lucy - daughter of two lesbian mothers, who uses her obsession with Jacob to build a new life, a successful career. 'Without Jacob, would she exist? Certainly not as she is now. So who would she have become? What would her life look like?' There's Solace herself (not her real name, of course), who tells Lucy not to 'believe a word I tell you with regard to Jacob Little. Because together we make a fiction. Solace is his creation. And Jacob is mine'. Or does she; does she say that? Or does Lucy simply want her to, and is there any difference?
This is a tale of dramatic twists, all gently done; there are no explosions, no screaming, no shouting; everything simply happens. It's a deeply complex, twisted tangle of a book. A narrative of short chapters, divided into sections called beginning, middle and end. The end, the key event, takes place on a Good Friday; in a book redolent with Biblical references, this can hardly be insignificant.
I'm aware this is an odd and confusing review; well, it's an odd and confusing book, and hellishly hard to write about. I can tell you, that if you can get past some irritating early chapters; if you have the patience to let the story unfold without pre-empting or imagining you know what is happening, happened or about to happen; if you don't mind an unreliable narrator, narrative and complete uncertainty at all times and in all spaces, then you are in for an extraordinary ride, because this novel - which starts out so mundanely - ends up going nowhere you expect and builds into something truly extraordinary. Intricate and finely wrought, it will surely reward repeat readings.
To paraphrase Jacob's teacher, Mr Forbes: Imagine yourself, alone in space, no sound, no light. Would you still be able to think? Would you still hear the voice in your head? Who is that voice? What is consciousness? Is it the same thing as the soul?
Well, is it?
What do you think?
`I don't want to know your name. Not your real name. You can be anyone with me. Anyone at all. Just make it up. Names can be so binding, so limiting.'
So. Who are we, really? Do we know? Are we all just a confection of untrustworthy memory, smoke, mirrors and lies? Does anyone really know anyone? Is anyone, anyone? Is there such a thing as an individual, a personality? Or do we all just make it up as we go along?
So who is Jacob Little? Is he a tragic, lost young man in search of life's purpose, who regularly adopts new identities, new obsessions - 17 of them, as the story opens - or is that someone else entirely? Does anyone know who Jacob Little really is or was, ever? Even his own diaries, carried from one life to the next in piles of green notebooks, don't really tell us. 'If it weren't for the existence of others', I wouldn't exist at all', Jacob writes - which is of course true for us all, in the physical sense, the existential, the spiritual, even the quantum. But it has particular relevance to Jacob Little, the man who never was.
There's a firm twist of quantum seasoning here, with a self-made - in the truest, purest sense - protagonist, who fervently believes in his 'Theory of Obsession' and his 'Theory of Others': that none of us has any identity outside that 'gifted to us' by those who observe us; that consciousness is just an illusion, a mutation, 'the parasite self feeding off the rest of him' but not real. A clever trick of the mind'. And the 'self', the so-called personality, a mere construct of invented peculiarities that mark us out from the herd.
We know all this because the narrator tells us. But who is the narrator, the omniscient voice, the ghost? Is it Jacob - the real Jacob? Or maybe his mother? Maybe nobody at all. We are never told; there are no absolutes in this tale of twisted identity and time.
This is, to say the least, an unusual novel. I was irritated at the start, impatient with the bizarre narration, the experimental style. But the annoying narrative voice evaporates in subsequent chapters, and the style settles to focus on Jacob and the people around him; those who think they know him now; those who think they knew him in the past. Jacob exists in the memories of those who thought they knew him, but each individual's memory of Jacob is so distinct in every detail, they might be remembering entirely different men. Jacob says he imagined jumping from the Clifton suspension bridge; Solace says he actually did, but Jacob says he didn't tell her what happened, so how does she know what she thinks she knows? Mr Benson thinks that travelling back in time on a quantum level could be possible. Not in our 'big, clumsy bodies, but elements of our consciousness could, thoughts like sound and light, creating waves in spacetime.' But is any of it true?
These characters - those who knew Jacob; whose observations, encounters, memories, make up what we know of the man who calls himself Jacob - are a fascinating and engaging cast. There's Lizzie/Max, a 9 year old girl who wants to be a boy, a child of firm faith who obsessively reads her Bible. There's Fat Sal, landlady of the pub where Jacob makes his final home. There's Mr Benson, landlord and watchmaker, who believed he could make 'a clock that proved time doesn't exist at all. A quantum clock that held everything past, present and future in one dimensionless point'; who knew Jacob and his mother and befriended Jacob as a boy; his surrogate son. There's Lucy - later Dr Lucy - daughter of two lesbian mothers, who uses her obsession with Jacob to build a new life, a successful career. 'Without Jacob, would she exist? Certainly not as she is now. So who would she have become? What would her life look like?' There's Solace herself (not her real name, of course), who tells Lucy not to 'believe a word I tell you with regard to Jacob Little. Because together we make a fiction. Solace is his creation. And Jacob is mine'. Or does she; does she say that? Or does Lucy simply want her to, and is there any difference?
This is a tale of dramatic twists, all gently done; there are no explosions, no screaming, no shouting; everything simply happens. It's a deeply complex, twisted tangle of a book. A narrative of short chapters, divided into sections called beginning, middle and end. The end, the key event, takes place on a Good Friday; in a book redolent with Biblical references, this can hardly be insignificant.
I'm aware this is an odd and confusing review; well, it's an odd and confusing book, and hellishly hard to write about. I can tell you, that if you can get past some irritating early chapters; if you have the patience to let the story unfold without pre-empting or imagining you know what is happening, happened or about to happen; if you don't mind an unreliable narrator, narrative and complete uncertainty at all times and in all spaces, then you are in for an extraordinary ride, because this novel - which starts out so mundanely - ends up going nowhere you expect and builds into something truly extraordinary. Intricate and finely wrought, it will surely reward repeat readings.
To paraphrase Jacob's teacher, Mr Forbes: Imagine yourself, alone in space, no sound, no light. Would you still be able to think? Would you still hear the voice in your head? Who is that voice? What is consciousness? Is it the same thing as the soul?
Well, is it?
What do you think?
September 24, 2016
interesting novel of a person who uses different names and he is in search of solace but he also means different things to several people as the novel moves along but do we really know jacob little though in the end
May 1, 2018
An excellent read. A very interesting multi harmony song on time, self, consciousness, individual perspectives and unreliable narrators.
June 15, 2020
Found this one a slow burn but it did eventually get me! One of those books you find yourself pondering when you put it down, I always wanted to know more.
October 9, 2018
What a touching and engaging read. At first I was unnerved by the omniscient commentator, dear reader, who takes us by the hand and leads us all over the place! I was worried that the novel might be an exercise in style over content, by a post-grad creative writing student with a determination to make their mark. I was wrong. The construction is highly literary, but beyond that, it is intelligently and sensitively written, with an understanding of plot and pace, that kept this reader involved and caring about the cast of existentially lonely protagonists, each one an outsider, (as we all are!) each one searching for solace, and several searching for Solace. Having known someone who re-invented themselves regularly, I was intrigued by Jacob Little, but more endeared to him as a literary persona than as his infuriating real-life counterpart. The obsessions which punctuate his various lives are actually 'dabbles' and the text, whilst it acknowledges many philosophical conjectures, does what Jacob does, and circumnavigates each theory whilst on the way to somewhere else. The text is set in times and places that are assiduously realised, without the clumsy product placement some authors use. It gently nudges you backwards and forwards in time using well wrought dialogue, monologue, and insightful observation. There is mystery and revelation, ambiguity and unanswered questions. There is sweetness and poignancy. There is a bloomin' good read.
I was given a copy of this book via NetGalley in return for an unbiased review.
I was given a copy of this book via NetGalley in return for an unbiased review.
October 6, 2014
The title, In Search of Solace, suggests a quest novel and, indeed, Jacob Little does set out to find both the woman he knew as Solace, as well as the comfort and consolation of discovering the answer to the question of who he is. But Jacob is a long way from the traditional hero: a shadowy figure who, consistent with his own theory of identity as:
not something we choose for ourselves, nor … Something that grew organically as we got older. It was something gifted to us. By others … as a kind of malleable gloop that could be manipulated by the people around us; never fixed, but changing with every situation and circumstance (p 172-173),
My review continues at http://annegoodwin.weebly.com/annecdo...
not something we choose for ourselves, nor … Something that grew organically as we got older. It was something gifted to us. By others … as a kind of malleable gloop that could be manipulated by the people around us; never fixed, but changing with every situation and circumstance (p 172-173),
My review continues at http://annegoodwin.weebly.com/annecdo...
September 16, 2015
I read this book in 2 days!! It was gripping from start to finish. I don't usually like books where the narrator addresses the reader but Emily Mackie's narrator becomes a character in the novel just as much as Max or Jacob Little. This book will have you questioning your purpose in life, how others see you and even how you see yourself. A beautifully crafted existential adventure. The LGBT characters are portrayed honestly and we get some insight into the mind of a young girl who wants to be treated like a boy.
October 11, 2014
I cannot bear to read this book. Read about ten pages and i already want to kill myself. The writer writes beautifully but her style is oh so MA In creative writing and pretentious. She uses "dear reader" all over the place and the story is her talking to the reader and then writing. I find this annoying. Enough fiction out there that will engage you, but this is not it. I am going to go return it, it is that irritating.
January 3, 2016
Interesting, beautifully written, but ultimately didn't quite grab me.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews