These Foolish Things - Deborah Moggach

Great read

A very different book to what I had expected. I thought it was going to be a light-hearted comedy when in fact, it's much more. I loved all of the characters, feeling they were a good representation either of their gender, age or nationality. The novel opens with Ravi, born in India but lived in London having trained as a doctor. His wife Pauline has the patience of a saint where her father, Norman, is concerned. Norman is once more living with them, having been asked to leave yet another residential home. This is to Ravi's disgust and is having a detrimental effect on his marriage. One evening his cousin Sonny is visiting London on business and Ravi unburdens himself. It is at this point that Sonny hits on the idea to build a residential home in Bangalore, India. The plan comes through and Norman is the first resident.

Slowly, we are introduced to all the characters who eventually come to stay Dunroamin (play on words from `done roaming'). We hear their stories about why they got there and about their family lives. Some of the stories are brutally honest and seem to be representative of the aged today. Their initial fears of moving to India and also their prejudices are eventually put to one side as they realise one culture is not that different to another. Wonderfully written with superb narrative and characterisations, there are definite highlights and lowlights to retiring to a residential home but moving to another country was not one of the lowlights. It had an effect on all of the residents, making them evaluate their lives and what was important to them. I got to the end of novel having felt happy and sad - all the signs of a good writer to instil emotions in their reader.

Touching and profound comedy of manners

This is a funny and touching comedy of manners set in London and Bangalore, but it has many quite profound things to say. This is a novel about ageing and how we in Britain treat those people in our society who are at their most vulnerable, but it's also about family, and lonliness, and about the importance of feeling a part of something, a family, a group, having something to identify with. There is a wonderful cast of characters, the elderly residents of the retirement home, their middle aged children, the staff of a local call centre to name but a few - some of whom behave quite badly - but for whom the reader is allowed to feel quite a bit of sympathy. A real delight.

Slightly Disappointing

I have read most of Deborah Moggach's books, particularly enjoying Seesaw. These Foolish Things stared promisingly enough, a good mix of humour and emotion. However, I felt that the book turned into a bit of a predictable farce about half way through, to the extent that I no longer really cared about any of the characters. The first half was good though, hence the three stars.

An affectionate view of the elderly

There have been other novels set in old age homes - Muriel Spark's Memento Mori, Alan Isler's The Hamlet of Fifth Avenue - and there is a certain formula about them. But Deborah Moggach's is the most kindly of these novels and, unusually, envisages the possibility that the elderly might actually get a new lease of life under such circumstances. Not possible, it is suggested, in cash-strapped Britain; but why not outsource the care for the elderly to Bangalore in India, where a little money goes a long way, where the climate is better, and where, above all, a former British hotel converted into a somewhat run-down retirement home (called Dunroamin) can create a little island of Old England in the midst of a throbbing Indian city. One has to suspend one's disbelief that elderly folk would really be happy in such a setting, but, it is suggested, there is something about the atmosphere of India which makes possible some kind of renewal of the spirit which gives new insights and meaning to what had been lonely lives in England. For much of the book the stories of each of these elderly folk seems episodic and disconnected, and there seems to be no particular plot; but in due course a plot does emerge in which coincidences - somewhat forced in my view - connect many of these lives together in unexpected ways. It is a kindly book, both about the elderly and about India and Indians, and that makes it an attractive book.

These Foolish Things

My first encounter with the writer and what great introduction. Beautifully written, comical, touching and thought provoking. The story unfolds and just as you think you know what is coming up it takes another turn. The characters are so well thought through and developed that you are desperate to read more about them. The writing style and language are very accessible and so funny in places. This would make a great book club read. The topic on first inspection is very unusual, I couldn't see how the book would work but it really does. From Norman to Evelyn, The call centre staff to the Doctor who thought up the idea up in the first place this really is a lovely lovely read