Looking after men

Nicholas Spice

  • The Present Moment by Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye
    Heinemann, 155 pp, £9.95, July 1987, ISBN 0 434 44027 2
  • Memory of Departure by Abdulrazak Gurnah
    Cape, 159 pp, £9.95, April 1987, ISBN 0 224 02432 9
  • You can’t get lost in Cape Town by Zöe Wicomb
    Virago, 184 pp, £3.95, May 1987, ISBN 0 86068 820 8

A novel may have a coherent plot, passably differentiated characters, fluent dialogue, passages of well-turned prose, and still be worthless if it isn’t also about something that matters. In this respect, the contemporary British novelist has a hard time of it, coming to the form when so much has already been said, when the necessary subjects have already been turned into novels many times over. For the African or South American, Indian or Australian novelist, it is easier to command attention, especially in the European market, where ignorance makes the reading of non-European novels a matter of basic education.

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