Synopsis
Stretching from the macabre reaches of 1930s colonial Africa to today's edgy travel hotspots, a moving epistolary narrative is separated by gritty vignettes, all linked by the ownership of a fountain pen
In 1933, Ralph leaves England for a new life on the island of Lamu, a journey forced upon him by his fiancee's father. In a series of letters, he writes to Lilian using her parting gift—a Mabie Todd, Blackbird No 8 ink pen with a heart-shaped reservoir. Despite getting no replies, Ralph describes the journey, his fellow passengers, and upon arrival, his colleagues and other ex-pats. In time, Ralph comes to the conclusion that any feelings he had for his lover were delusional. He makes the life-changing decision not to return to the land of his birth, and sends the pen back to a still-silent Lilian. As their story unfolds and reaches the final and permanent severing of ties, author Alex Baker spreads more modern tales of lost love and broken friendships in increasingly exotic locations between his hero's missives. The common factor throughout is the pen passed by Lilian to her granddaughter whose father was the product of a moment of passion snatched before Ralph left the cold shores of England. The tightness of these vignettes is masterful, and the twist in the tale is at once moving and deeply satisfying.
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About the Author
Alex Wyndham Baker has worked as a barman in Los Angeles, a TV reporter in Bangkok, a magazine editor in Hong Kong, a copywriter in Nairobi, a mojito vendor in Barcelona, a hotel inspector in India, and an English teacher in the Galapagos. He started writing Cursive after a climbing accident in Kenya incapacitated him for a year.
Reviews
Banished by his prospective father-in-law to a corporate cotton plantation in Kenya in 1933 for a year’s cooling off, Ralph maintains his ardor for Lillian through daily correspondence, using an elegant, monogrammed fountain pen she bestowed as a going-away gift. His unanswered letters reveal the rigors of the transoceanic voyage from England to Africa, including mysterious confrontations with a disparate group of shipmates. Once at his isolated island post, Ralph finally realizes the futility of his long-distance romance. Interspersed with Ralph’s letters of longing and discovery are tales set decades in the future, all connected by the presence of the self-same fountain pen, functioning somewhat like the desk in Nicole Krauss’ Great House (2010). From Nepal to Mexico, India to Hong Kong, Laos to Morocco, the pen makes its way into the hands of lovers and thieves, idealistic travelers and violent killers, for whom the pen is both amulet and abomination. Through an inventive and intricate weaving of people, places, and things, Baker cleverly brings the story full circle, a masterful demonstration of skill and cunning. --Carol Haggas
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