Author: David Nicholls
Sweet Sorrow is a book by David Nicholls, the author of One Day, my favourite book. Well, it was my favourite book, until I read this one. Now I am not so sure as I absolutely loved this book.
One thing that Sweet Sorrow made me realise is that I resent British writers who label Nicholls as a writer of love stories. Yes, his books always have a love story, but the underlying story is always about class, so Nicholls is so much more than a romance writer. This book is no exception, and while I do not know the origin of Nicholls, where he grew up, and what he did, I do know he gets it. I was wondering, a few times whilst reading the book, whether he is Charlie and whether this book is perhaps autobiographical.
In Sweet Sorrow, the story is written from the perspective of a boy called Charlie, who narrates his life by intertwining the story of summer after high school when he ended up joining a Shakespeare theatre play, Romeo and Juliet, with other kids from his high school, as well as the middle-class school, only because he liked a girl, Fran, who was part of the theatre crew playing Juliet. At the same time, we also learn a story of Charlie’s life with his father’s record store going bankrupt, which then bankrupted the family due to numerous bank loans to save the business that eventually failed anyway. Charlie’s mother then changed careers and started to work double shifts to keep the family going, only to meet another man in the golf club where she worked. The new man is described as middle-class. She went to live with him and took Billie, Charlie’s sister with her whilst Charlie stayed with his father despite begging his mother to take him too. But the answer was no because there was no room, and the new guy had twin girls who could share their room with Billie. Someone also had to stay with Charlie’s father and mom’s excuse was that they were always close. Charlie tells readers this painful story including the story of his growing up and the good relationship he had with his father, along with the story of a fallout and his father sinking into depression and alcoholism. What is particularly poignant is Charlie’s descriptions of worrying about his father and saying no kid should worry like that. The story of his mother finding a mild-mannered middle-class man to escape poverty and fighting, along with her unsuccessful attempts to still mother Charlie when visiting, were described very well. The story of class struggle, a working-class growing up and a class tension with the middle-class man his mom met felt very real.
Charlie’s feelings towards Fran and descriptions of how their relationship progressed were also beautifully narrated, as were descriptions of the play and its preparation, meeting new friends from the theatre group whilst also navigating working-class friendships centred on banter and Charlie trying to hide what he is doing. It was a classical story, well-researched among sociologists, of what happens when working-class people start climbing the ladder and merge with the middle classes. In this case, it was forming a friendship with middle-class kids, and the difference was stark; middle-class kids living the stereotype of boosting their CVs, having fun whilst waiting for school results (which always come late in the summer in England) and behaving in different ways than working-class boys who often banter each other to exhaustion. In one conversation, Charlie complains about this to his friend Harper, who then tries to defend the friendship by saying, and this was also poignantly described, saying his mates have always been there; when his father broke down; when Charlie himself broke down and started to struggle in school, and they always helped. I totally understood both sides; working-class boys thinking they’ve done no harm because harsh banter is what they know, and Charlie wanting something different. Then, the summer ended in sweet sorrow because it was a good summer, but life goes on. But, new friendships, as it turned out, did have a transformational experience, and whilst Charlie loses his working-class friends, who bantered and pretended to be tough guys but actually did well in school and went to University, he remains alone in a working-class area where he grew up, he works at the airport in a VIP lounge where he particularly hates students, and has his seat in a local pub. But then, friends from the theatre group come back and continue the friendship, showing that summer friendship with meaning can turn into something life-long and, ultimately, that friendships between middle- and working-class kids can be formed once an opportunity arises and people find something in common. It ultimately comes down to cultural capital and sharing common interests and experiences, and we can always find people from various origins who have something in common if we look for them or by chance encounter, as it happened with Charlie. These chance encounters and forming friendships are something that is inherently British and I have indeed experienced that in England.
The book is beautifully written, and we know right from the beginning that Charlie and Fran do not stay together so this is not a spoiler. The book just tells a story of coming out of age and trying to figure life out. It also shows the struggle of kids whose parents are sick, where marriages fall apart, and how it affects those kids. It also tells the story of the first love and how it affects us, how we experience it, and that the first love can often indeed be sweet sorrow.
The theatre part was also very interesting, and it made me realise I really enjoy reading about plays and the crews that form them. I was immediately reminded of the Tom Lake book I recently read, which also has a theatre crew at the centre, and which I enjoyed. and that one should never give up, but sometimes one needs friends to keep going. But the beauty of this book is that it is also a class story of growing up, facing suffrage, but ultimately making it. What I also realised is that I enjoy reading and re-reading books by British authors after living in England more because I understand them better. For example, when Charlie works at the gas station during the summer and thinks about what to do next, he says he could always ‘sign on’. This means applying for benefits, but it is not something one would know without living in England. Equally, some descriptions of working-class banter and how households work (putting plates on knees and eating whilst watching TV) are also not meaningful unless one is aware of differences in life in England. So, I thoroughly enjoy reading British authors now and barely read anything else. I find their writing style and this underlying class tone of stories very compelling and well-written. And, as I said before, David Nicholls is one of the best of Britain when it comes to writing his books and depicting life as it actually is.
Beautiful. Inspiring. Read this!
Thank you for reading.