Tricia Dake's Book Review of:

Losing Julia
By Jonathan Hull
Island Books, published by Bantam Dell, a division of Random House
Copyright 2000

Like paint strokes on canvas, Jonathan Hull’s prose gradually builds up a picture that by the end of his novel will startle you with its beauty and linger on in your mind.

From the opening quotation from Andre Malvaux:

“All art is a revolt against man’s fate.”

To the memorable last line of this novel, the author paints a sad yet redeeming picture of man’s plight in life.

Our protagonist is a veteran of World War I. His name is Patrick and the story is told by him. Because he is so honest, he doesn’t start out as a particularly appealing or even sympathetic character. He doesn’t seek to portray himself as any kind of hero, but rather as merely a man bewildered by the both the unfairness and kindness of fate.

We first see him attending a ceremony at a war memorial – the place where he fought too many battles and lost his best friend Daniel. There Patrick meets Julia, Daniel’s lover, who is every bit as lovely as Daniel described her. Patrick recognizes her from Daniel’s long ago descriptions. Like Daniel he comes to love her. Had Patrick known this would happen, he wouldn’t have married Charlotte. For Patrick is married. He has a wife he is comfortable with and a son he loves.

The story takes us back and forth through time - from Patrick’s days as a soldier in the trenches, to his clandestine meetings with Julia, then on to his days in a nursing home where he declines irrevocably with age. We come to see his failures and successes, his loss of youth, family, and faculties. His memories drive the story ever onward and we come to understand him. He becomes a comfortably familiar friend; so much so, that upon reaching the end of this novel, you will keenly feel the loss.

You will enjoy Patrick’s sense of irony and humor. The secrets he keeps to himself and the ones he shares. You will appreciate the brief descriptions that paint the other characters so starkly yet not ungently. Never was it more obvious that age sees so much more clearly than youth.

Jonathan Hull speaks candidly of aging. There is no sugar-coating, but plenty of sage advice. In the course of reading this story, you will come to worry less about things that don’t matter. You might even look upon those you love with a brighter eye. Though one’s days may seem arduous and long, life itself is short.

Read Losing Julia. Enjoy the images it paints. For when you reach its conclusion, you will hold tighter to all that is of value in your life.

To Read Tricia's interview with Jonathon Hull got to: http://www.writers-ezine.com/