Shirley Kossick
THE KILLING BOTTLE by Jane Fox (David Philip)
This is one of the best novels I’ve read recently – pithy, taut, moving and unusual. The storyline concerns the strange and strained relationship of two elderly men – one white, one black – living on an isolated farm on the escarpment of what used to be called the Eastern Transvaal.
Each of these old men has a terrible burden to carry, but while the physical mutilation of Mapunye is clearly visible, the weight of conscience borne by William Mott is hidden, even from himself at times. The only other palpable presence since the death of William’s exacting father and his kindly Aunt Rachel, is the landscape itself.
This isolation is disturbed by the arrival of a young couple – Meggie and Ash – seeking shelter from a terrible storm. Up to that point, William’s only rather desultory diversion has been looking after his lepidopterist father’s specimens of moths and butterflies. This is a major but decaying collection housed in a decrepit shed, which also contains the ”killing bottle” from which the novel derives its title.
With a skill quite exceptional for a debut novel, Jane Fox alternates chapters describing William’s childhood with the action of the present and the catalystic arrival of Meggie and Ash. They, too, do not have a trouble free relationship, but there is something in their interchange with William that brings a certain resolution for them all.
The book has some stunning set pieces such as the funeral of Bettie, Mapunye’s mother, and persuasive character delineation. The gentle Aunt Rachel, who cannot quite fathom the problem between William and Mapunye, makes a dramatic contrast with the unbending Mr Mott. William’s one and only journey into town and its horrific climax is also unforgettable.
Fox has stated in a publisher’s note that she ”wanted to write a South African book which would involve a black man and a white man, but involve them as people, not as representatives of their race. So the issue between William and Mapunye arises because of their particular strengths and failings, not because of their colour.”
In this she has unquestionably succeeded, creating characters that are both believable and capable of arousing the reader’s interest and concern. The book that comes nearest to the effect of The Killing Bottle in its wonderful evocation of the landscape and in the sympathy it elicits for two unlikely characters, is Annie Proulx’s novella Brokeback Mountain. In both these narratives one feels the spikey presence of the terrain and, in both, the relationship between two not particularly appealing men moves one to tears.