I liked the setting of this novel. Salom presents Melbourne in a way I find attractive, partly due to the characters who populate it and who also give the novel appeal. The main relationships of the story and the realistic way they developed were, however, what appealed to me most. The main characters, Trevor and his house-mate Elizabeth, were entirely believable. I think Salom has a pretty good way of presenting enough information to tell the reader what is really happening between the characters. His characters are generally interesting, but I found his older generation characters just a bit too way out for complete believability. As with the other novel of Salom's (Waiting) that I read recently (attempted to read, anyway), there's a bit too much intellectual pretentiousness (this time related to the world of art) for my liking. Nonetheless, I made it to the end of this book, and I give myself a gold star for trying a second Salom novel! I think I'll rule a line under Salom now though. I've had enough. My brain is full. ( )

I found The Returns such a delightful read. Not delightful in a light and fluffy, sugar candy kind of way. It was delightful in its capacity to beguile with the commonplace.

The best writers are keen observers of the human condition, and Salom is clearly that. But it is the way he translates what he and his characters observe onto the page that I found so engrossing. It was hard not to be charmed by these characters brought to life by Salom’s insightful narrative peppered with dry wit. Continue reading review >> http://bookloverbookreviews.com/2019/07/the-returns-by-philip-salom-review-autho... ( )

Reading Philip Salom's fiction is like an enchantment. His characters are distinctive and yet familiar; they are every person you've ever met who doesn't quite 'fit in', but you don't care because you like them anyway.

If you loved the setting of the Miles Franklin shortlisted Waiting (and I certainly did) The Returns is set once again in inner-Melbourne. There are shops and pubs within walking distance, and dogs share Royal Park with the joggers every morning. The beggars know where the best stakeouts are, and the supermarket is one of the small independent ones. Trams clatter along the street, and there's always the hum of the city in the background. Best of all, because the houses have corrugated iron roofs, you can hear the rain falling. Urban redevelopment does not seem to have strayed into Salom's vividly depicted world; it is so resolutely single-storeyed that the room that's a catalyst for the plot, has been built underneath the existing house.

The central characters are again misfits: Trevor is a bookseller with an aborted career as an artist, has a failing marriage and seems old before his time. Apart from his disagreeable wife, he has no family, except possibly for the reappearance of a scoundrel father thought to be long since dead. Elizabeth is a freelance editor with a needy mother in Ballarat and an adult daughter who flits in and out of her life. She has a condition called prosopagnosia, (difficulty recognising faces), which impacts on her social relationships. Both Trevor and the reader have to learn what this might mean:

Not for the first time he wonders what it feels like to see a current lover and not recognise them immediately. It had always seemed to him a stranger's face made the first exciting impression, which then became deeply familiar, admired, and that love with its profound fondness grew from this familiar. She would have to adjust anew each time. The proverbial gamut: she would rush through exciting, familiar, loved in fast forward every day. (P.251)

(Alzheimer's disease is an entirely different, degenerative condition, but it also takes the familiar into the unknown and is distressing for everyone. Imagine the anguish of not being able to recognise the faces that come into your room. If someone you love has this cruel condition, long before memory goes, begin wearing the same clothes and scent every time you visit, and announce your name in a cheery greeting as soon as you enter the room. A time will come when this strategy fails too, but it's a kindness while it lasts.)

Elizabeth also has an eating disorder, and almost passes out the first time she encounters Trevor.

The second time they meet is when Elizabeth places an ad for a room to let in his shop window. Trevor, who has been living with his estranged wife for some years, decides to take the room himself. He moves into the underground bedroom (with ensuite) and sets up the backyard shed as a studio to resurrect his art. But they share a compact kitchen and it turns out that Trevor is the kind of home cook that his ex-wife is going to sorely miss!

Just as the reader is lured into predicting that the stage is set for a romance, Salom introduces the parents, and my word, what proverbial 'spanners in the works' they are!

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2019/07/27/the-returns-by-philip-salom/ ( )