/ 4 August 2000

Autumn of the Colonel

Shirley Kossick A Larger Silence by Yvonne Burgess (Penguin) Y vonne Burgess+s latest novel is, in effect, a sequel to her moving -alternative love story+, Anna and the Colonel (1998). It is not necessary to have read the earlier book to enjoy A Larger Silence, but the two together comprise the history of Rudyard Kipling -Rudy+ Knoesen, who prefers to be known as -Colonel+. The pretension of this title contrasts with Rudy+s decline into penury. He finds himself in a home for the aged and indigent. His one possession, a -nicked leather suitcase+, contains his few effects and several pathetic mementoes. Through the Colonel+s observations and reflections a picture of his past is gradually built up, much of it sadly lacking in fulfilment. Burgess has a keen eye for the pain, dreads and indignities of old age and for the awfulness of institutional life, described trenchantly in Anna and the Colonel as -gunmetal grey+. Nevertheless, she does see vestiges of humour in most situations and, above all, value even in the paltriest of lives.

Though the soi-disant Colonel is despicable in many ways, his failings are eminently human and his self-deceptions understandable, at times endearing. Burgess does not shrink from many ugly realities in A Larger Silence, but she also imbues the narrative with a subtle hopefulness, mainly through Rudy+s faith in -Annie+ and her ability to -move on+. This book and its masterly depiction of Rudy moved me to tears, but I also found in it an affirmation of the human spirit.