Sunset Over Chocolate Mountains

by Susan Elderkin

Susan Elderkin's brilliant Sunset Over Chocolate Mountains explores our places in the lives of our loved ones and in the universe. Theobald Moon lives in a lonely corner of the Arizona desert, tending his spectacular cactus garden, his tiny mobile home, and his astounding appetite. He has fled a stifled, cardigan-and-tea-cozy life in south London for this unfamiliar country and is raising Josephine, who has known no other life than their cheerful yet isolated American one. But when a jangling ice-cream truck finds its way into the desert carrying two ill-fated lovers--a pregnant Slovakian shoemaker and a mysterious ice-cream man--it throws Theo's and Josie's careful lives into a chaotic state for which they're totally unprepared. Fantastic upheaval ensues, as well as an inspired redemption. Innovative and accessible, funny and profound, Elderkin's "beautiful, touching story" (Bookseller) explores love and responsibility, and the joys and fears such emotions inspire. It is a rare and tantalizing first novel.

Genres: Fiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published March 2, 2000

About the author

Susan Elderkin is the author of two critically-acclaimed novels, Sunset over Chocolate Mountains and The Voices. One of Granta’s 20 Best Young British Novelists in 2003, she has taught creative writing at all levels, from Arvon courses to the creative writing MAs at Birkbeck and Goldsmith’s. She also works as a critic, a journalist, and a bibliotherapist for The School of Life.

Susan is prized by her students for her innovative approach, and has accompanied many of them all the way to publication.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a strange story and the principal character is not very likeable. The story runs on two tracks which intersect. Theo Moon is an overweight Englishman, who after the death of his mother, sells everything and moves into a caravan in the Arizona desert. In Slovakia a worker in a shoe factory falls in love with an icecream seller. They elope and go to America in his van to make their fortunes. They end up in the Arizona desert; she is pregnant. These two stories run in parallel with a present day narrator, Josephine a small girl living with Theo, her "father". She has a love of ice cream and there are some boxes of shoes in the caravan closet. Their friend Jersey is an ever present who assists Theo to cope with everyday life.
The twists at the end tell us how we got to where we are and are unpleasant. The child has been loved, as much as Theo can love, but there is something missing and the ending illustrates that. Most of the men are amoral bastards withsome basic wiring missing.
There are some rich descriptions of the desert and its wildlife, but there is an emptiness at the heart of it all. I don't mind a bit of tragedy, but this did not convince.

[Michelle Ricciardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a strange story. It will not be for everyone. However, I loved it for it's descriptions of the Arizona desert and skies. Those images brought back vivid memories for me of visiting my English grandfather...who was also living in the middle of the Arizona desert in a trailer, planting apple trees, and trying to get them to survive.

[Chana · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a wretched story!
There is this mild mannered English guy who is nuts. He moves from England to Arizona and lives out there drinking his urine, overeating grossly and doing yoga. There is a cowboy guy who looks in on him and helps him to repair stuff. There is a young girl who is introduced to us as the British guy's daughter. And there is a young couple from Slovakia who have made it to the U.S. and are enjoying being on the road discovering the country. The happen to park their van near the home of the British man. The descriptions are amazing, the story is appalling and sickening. And no, the Englishman is not a child molester, this is not where it is going. He is not a cannibal either and there are no supernatural elements. It is just beyond creepy and disturbing because it is close enough to normal until you realize how Horrible it is!

[Elke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was thoroughly invested in this book until about 3/4 through. The way the landscape asserted itself was intriguing. Good character development (mostly) and interesting plot lines. And I liked the characters. I had empathy for their situations and enjoyed their small victories. Without giving it away, toward the end of the book, I didn’t buy the daughter’s rage or her reaction to what happened. This needed more context for me. Without that my interest in the story deflated a bit. And the ending. Well. The dad’s cluelessness at that critical juncture was unbelievable. Also I’d like to know how much bravery and insight he was actually able to muster for that conversation, but I don’t believe it was much, given what I know of him. A let down there.

[sisterimapoet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Given to me by a friend as part of our seasonal reading challenge.

My kind of story. Odd people doing odd things in odd places. Lots of lovely contrasts - hot and cold especially made this a very sensory read.

I didn't find it that confusing, as suggested by other reviews, in fact I found the divisions of chapters between different character perspectives flowed quite smoothly.

I liked the way there was ambiguity throughout, and the way it built to a climax, but that the climax itself probably occurs a few pages after the book has finished.

[Deanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book at a used bookstore recently. I was intrigued by the cover art, and the synopsis seemed really interesting, but I really struggled to get into this book, and overall, I just didn't enjoy it.

The story is told from three different points of view: Theo, a strange Englishman; Josephine, Theo's young daughter; and Eva, a young, Slovakian shoemaker.

Eva's storyline was my favorite of the three, and I probably would have enjoyed this book a lot more if it had been written solely from her point of view. I loved reading about her journey to America--though a lot of the journey was left out, I suppose to make room for Theo's story.

Theo's storyline was my least favorite. He is an odd man, and the writer keeps reminding us of that by describing his habit of drinking urine and spying on his neighbors. I was convinced that he was strange early on; I didn't need the constant reminders.

Reading Josephine's POV made me dislike Theo even more. We learn about Josephine's strange upbringing (not very surprising considering who was caring for her) in her chapters. She spends most of her time with Theo and his adult friend, Jersey, which I found really odd. I had so many questions about Josephine's life, and, thankfully, most of my questions were eventually answered, but I can't say that the answers were satisfying.

The writing in Sunset Over Chocolate Mountains is beautiful at times--especially within the descriptions of the Arizona desert. But the story itself just didn't pull me in.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a rather unique and well written book which always retains interest from its three character perspectives rotating chapter by chapter. I think that I am on fairly safe ground to say that there is no way that the ending could be exactly guessed before the denouement in the final 30 pages. It is a shocking ending and not necessarily one which sits convincingly with the character development up to that point. On one reading, even if the gargantuan child-adult, Theo, had acted in a more empathetic and honest way, would such actions have made the tragedy any less tragic in the circumstances? I suspect not. The fates of certain other characters would probably have been much the same given the remote location and the way state authorities work. But, nonetheless, in this moral conundrum, most readers would be appalled by what he does (or doesn't) do and I suspect that that has led to lower ratings than the book probably deserves. The landscape of the Arizona desert is undoubtedly a character in itself and the author does introduce the theme of the stark uncompromising nature of its "indifference" to the human story unfolding. As for the human story itself, you find out just as much about the characters from the descriptions of their bodies and bodily functions as you do through their minds and thoughts.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, that was different. The beginning was painfully slow and Theobald could be a lot to take. I almost wish he had forced his (deceased) mother to relocate prior to his demise for a little more interaction, just to get a bit more diversity in his perspective. The book features three different voices, Theobald, a possibly simple British expat living in America’s southwest, his eventual daughter, Josie, and a Slovakian shoe-maker cum ice cream vendor, Eva. You know it is a rough read when you don’t care for any of them. Theobald’s best friend, Jersey, and his girlfriend, Cindy, appear often and help improve the dullness. Eva’s boyfriend, Tibor, is crucial.

I rounded up to 3 because the writing is good and Susan Elderkin can clearly create and tell a story.

This book leaves a few puzzling mysteries.

[Ilse · Rating 2 out of 5]

ik las dit boek in het nederlands, dankzij een vondst van de boekenjagers.

een boek buiten mijn comfortzone, maar ik wou het best een kans geven.

Het boek gaat over een Engelse man en zijn dochter, maar ook over een Slowaaks koppeltje.

Het boek kabbelt maar wat door, soms met iets meer vaart, maar geen nood, als je net wat vaart hebt, haalt de schrijfster die er wel weer uit. Ofwel gaat ze dan voor een switch in de verhaallijn, ofwel begint er gewoon een nieuw hoofdstuk en negeert ze compleet wat er gebeurde.

Ik heb het boek heel lang best nog vlot gelezen, maar naar het einde toe, werd ik alleen maar boos.
Hop, heel het verhaal weg, alles waar de schrijfster moeite voor deed, gooit ze plots weg. Waarom?

[Gary Thompson]

i enjoyed it,its a book that describes how disparate people can end up meeting and living near each other in the most unlikely place. In this case a london man, and a slovakian couple meet in the arizona desert. It starts with a slow dance and finishes with a twist

[Les · Rating 2 out of 5]

My Original Thoughts (2000):

When I first started this book, I thought it was going to be great, but it turns out it wasn't anywhere close to greatness. Wouldn't recommend.

My Current Thoughts:

Well, I do like the cover art!

[Sarah Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange story, lovely writing but strange.

[Ecem · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.65

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange book, plot is odd but enjoyable. No closure at the end for me though.
Words really painted a picture throughout though which I love in a book!

[Bookworm Ava · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started so well... .

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tale of mysterious boxes of shoes, a desert and a lot of desserts.
the story of two lovers on the run from the law in Slovakia, who come to the Arizona desert. It's about the British man Theobald Moon, who leaves home when his mother dies (he's been living with her all his life and is either slightly retarded or massively overprotected) and also moves to Arizona, where he buys a trailer and a ton of candy and decides to live in the desert.
It's about the baby girl Josephine, whom he raises, life in the desert and the story that tie them all together.

The three story tracks in the book run quite smoothly and the writing is interesting, but the ending doesn't quite work for me. It seems a little rushed and not quite realistic The police can't get an intepreter for Tibor? Does Jersey think it's cool and no problem, that Theo has a corpse in his bedroom and didn't bother to call an ambulance?
And Theo never has to take the baby Josephine to the doctor for vaccines or because she get's sick and no one wonders, that there's no mother? It also seems a little unlikely, that he'd be capable of raising a baby I think.

[Mark Speed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been avoiding reviewing this for a long time because I not only knew the author, but she taught on my MA in Creative Writing. In some respects I felt it was trying too hard to impress.

I'm also going to impart a little secret knowledge that no other reviewer could probably give you. The author's favourite novel is Waterland, a novel which became one of my all-time favourites after she introduced us to it in our lit crit class. I was the only one who read Susan's debut novel, and was quite surprised to find that the first five pages of hers mirror that of Waterland very closely - except that hers is set in a desert. I never talked to her about it. Too shy or embarrassed - I couldn't decide which.

Fun idea: why not use the Look Inside feature on Amazon to look at the first few pages of each and judge for yourself?

[Josephine Ensign · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly memorable and endearingly eccentric characters. Love this passage: "When you go someplace with people, you don't talk to the place because you're too busy talking to the people. But when you go to a place by yourself, you can lie on the ground and feel the Earth beneath you and look at the bowl of the sky overhead and you're safe between the ground and the sky, as safe as if you were the yolk in the shell of an egg. A place is like a person, it has a mood and a way of looking, and sometimes it's quite, and sometimes it has a talk with you...."

[Jeanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one screwed up book. It's the story of a Czech couple who find their way to the American Southwest. They seem all set to make a life for themselves but it all falls apart. The woman dies in childbirth. A neighbor in the desert keeps the baby after watching the woman die. The man, caught up by the police, cannot return.

Not exactly a cheerful story, but well written and worth the read.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elderkin is such a complex writer, and while this her first book is a bit easier to read, it still packs a very hardy punch in the guts as you finish. I'm still contemplating the characters and circumstances in this novel, and wondering how anyone ever comes up with such ideas and complications. I found it an interesting journey to read, but I would only recommend it to serious readers who aren't afraid to be confused and aching after finishing a book.

[Almae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, infuriating story. Modern Gothic horror? (Think "Wuthering Heights".) The chapters focusing on the daughter are in 1st-person, so that's a bit jarring at first. Nice use of symbolism.
I could read this again.

[Richard Hoadley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating

[Donna Vallee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two & 1/2 stars. Strange book.

[Suzan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful evocative scenery, mood and character development. Weird story. Some parts were a bit choppy but lovely writing.

[Jessica]

2017 read harder challenge task 2 & 10

[Donna Jo Atwood · Rating 1 out of 5]

Task 5.9