IRISH FICTION/An Accident Waiting to Happen: Adrian White's first novel has to do with absence, physical and emotional. It chronicles a crucial week in the life of writer Gregory Isaacs, during which his partner, Caitlin, goes missing. He not only has to cope with her young son but with the social and institutional forces which descend on him in the wake of Caitlin's disappearance.
The title is clearly metaphoric. Gregory sees it as an apt description of the fate that always befalls his relationships with women. The term might just as well be applied to himself, however, and the impression he gains from both the authorities and from Caitlin's friends (he hasn't any of his own) is that his misanthropy is the reason she has left.
The novel seems obsessed with car accidents. At least two are described in graphic detail early on, and more soon follow. But no really meaningful or original connection is made between this obsession and the lives of the characters, as it is, say, in J.G. Ballard's Crash. Cars are also central to his obsession with the songs of Bruce Springsteen. But Gregory himself (understandably) doesn't drive and there is nothing of the romance of driving all night that fuels Springsteen's songs. A more appropriate musical reference might be Morrissey and the Smiths' Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now, given the novel's Manchester setting and its moody protagonist.
An Irish sub-text emerges when it becomes clear that Caitlin O'Connor is Irish. There has been an incident on her last day at work involving an Irish family denied a second council house after the first was burned out. The anti-Irish racism which ensues (from neighbours and police) may well suggest why the novel is set in the mid-1980s - with references to the miners' strike, the boycotting of South African oranges, etc.
The narrative space left by waiting for Caitlin to reappear is largely taken up with flashbacks, to his previous relationships and to hers (with Tomas's violent father). The relationship between past and present isn't always clear nor is the reason the novel veers from one to the other. Gregory's bonding with his surrogate son is its core, which puts it firmly in Nick Hornby territory (as do the musical references).
But there is little of the sparky dialogue between the pair that animates About A Boy. White's novel is always readable and conveys well its protagonist's sense of isolation and helplessness; but it insists on reminding us of better books on the same subject and does not benefit from the comparison.
Anthony Roche is a Senior Lecturer in the School of English at University College, Dublin
An Accident Waiting to Happen By Adrian White Penguin Ireland, 262 pp. €14.99