Title: This Body
Author: Tessa McWatt
Publisher: Oxford: Macmillan Caribbean, 2007. 339 pages
Reviewed by: Mary Hanna

This Body is a gentle story of longing and loss on the part of Guyanese-born London immigrants Victoria and her child-nephew Derek. It is Tessa McWatt's third novel but reads like a first book - often too wordy, too long, too bland. Dramatic tension in the story only arises three-quarters of the way through the text when Victoria, a caterer, meets Alexander, the father of one of Derek's friends, and a romance develops between the two. There is an interesting spin on this relationship as Victoria is in her sixties and Alexander is fifty-five. Both learn to trust and enjoy the company and sensuality of the other and it makes for an involving reading experience. But before this there is a regrettable lack of tension in the narrative, though McWatt shows great skill in developing relationships between characters, in particular the younger generation with parents and grandparents.

McWatt was born in Guyana and raised in Toronto. Her first novel was Out of My Skin (1998) and her second was the highly acclaimed Dragon's Cry (2001) which was shortlisted for the City of Toronto Book Award and the Governor General's Award. This Body, first published by Harper Collins in 2006, tells the story of Victoria who arrived in London from Guyana and Toronto in search of her 'disappeared' Kenyan lover Kola many years previously. But Kola has been killed, and Victoria lives in an emotional void, putting her heart into her exquisite cuisine until, owing to the accidental deaths of his mother and grandmother, her nephew Derek comes to live with her and she must take on the tasks of motherhood.

New event

Victoria rises to the demands of this challenging new event in her life and Derek is smothered with her attention and her food. Recipes abound in the text, as do letters, legends, advertisements, and computer screen reproductions. Derek's story is intertwined with Victoria's. He is the offspring of Victoria's sister and artificial insemination. Derek is obsessed with finding his father and constructs the myth of Camelot around his lost mother, whom he calls Guinevere.

Later in the text, Derek summons the wisdom ofwizards to help him cope with the challenges of inner-city life and school: he searches for magical powders to help protect him from the demands of bullies and drug pushers, and writes stories about the events in his life. Derek's future seems to be that of a thinker and metaphysician. He will grow in this body, protected by Victoria's love and her nutritious cooking, and the two will forge a new family that is at home wherever they are.

Victoria's life is full of men who adore her for her humility and skill in the kitchen. Lenny is her partner in the catering service and he yearns for her love, while Alexander sparks a long dormant note in the ageing Guyanese. Victoria spends a no successful 10 days in the south of France with Alexander, his demanding daughter Kendra and Derek; she returns with a yearning to take Derek home. The two return to Guyana for a brief visit which rekindles her desire for Alexander. Victoria learns that love is to be nourished by presence and sharing; she returns to London with a commitment to Alexander, having freed herself from the hold the departed Kola has had on her spirit.

Dependency

Derek, too, is able to free himself from his dependency on Kola's letters to Victoria, which he had found hidden in her bedroom chest. Derek used the wisdom in these letters as a substitute for fatherly advice. Kola, the reluctant revolutionary, has influenced the two Guyanese across the gap that this body leaves when it is dead. The ageing Victoria and the child Derek are able in the end to let go of the Kenyan guru and to relate more clearly to the people in their present.

Once again, McWatt shows great skill in depicting relationships, but she takes her time about bringing characters into tandem and often the narrative is baggy and without drive, though it is always well presented. For example, while Victoria is entertaining Alexander and his daughter Kendra for the first time, McWatt guides the conversation towards small talk: school issues and the best shopping in the neighbourhood. Alexander's mood loosens with the wine, and he teases Kendra about being surly. He describes a project he's doing for an engineering firm, reconstructing a bridge in the south of France. Victoria watches him speak, enjoying the comfort her small room has created for them. Then, suddenly, upon mention of a similar project he did in Italy, it's as though the bridge itself collapses into the river and his playfulness disappears.

Alexander then tells Victoria about the painful death by cancer of his Indian wife Smita. We can see the developing friendship between the adults, but it is offered with a blow-by-blow recounting that becomes tedious over the course of reading this narrative. There is excessive detail that finally is meaningless, and this reader became very restive in the course of trying to speed up the action.

Another example: 'A few stops later he hears the announcement for his station and gets off the train to make his first transfer. He boards a northbound train. As he enters, the recorded message is played: Mind the Gap. Mind the Gap. Self-consciously, Derek presses his lips together as he keeps his spot near the door and looks down at his trainers.'

So much carefully observed detail for no purpose. The action suffers. This reader became weary.

Tessa McWatt is producing a film based on John Berger's novel To the Wedding. She currently lives in London and is a senior lecturer and programme leader in creative and professional writing at the University of East London.