HIP BOOK REVIEW: Broadlake
By Ed Bingham
Published by Thinkwell Books 2023, £11.99
REVIEW BY KATY WEITZ
First, full disclosure, I had never read a novel in rhyming prose before I picked up Broadlake, so I know practically nothing about this genre. But I’ll lay money there are very few murder mysteries among this canon. Or those which are also a ‘book within a book’.
We are introduced to the author through the preface of this, Broadlake’s third edition, gradually learning that the manuscript of the rhyming novel was discovered with the deceased author in a basement in Alice Springs, Australia. It was published by an English Lecturer from the University of Melbourne who cobbled together the narrative apparently from a ‘disordered and in some places barely legible manuscript’. But is this how the author intended it to be read? We don’t know, and there is plenty of doubt cast on its authenticity before we get to a word of rhyming prose.
DELICIOUSLY DELIVERED IN MIC-DROPPING STANZAS
We also learn in the introduction that the unidentified man appears to be in the frame for the murder of a pregnant woman and her daughter some weeks before – the ‘Bracewell murder case’. So the scene is set – who is the mysterious author and how is he related to the murders? From there, we are sent into the novel itself like detectives hunting for clues.
It took a little time to get used to the rhythm of reading a novel in verse. But once my brain adjusted, I found it interesting, unusual and not to be rushed. The precision and care taken over every word, every line is extraordinary. I understand the real author Ed Bingham is a musician and has said that writing in rhyme comes naturally to him. This, I can well believe.
Scenes, feelings and moments are exquisitely conjured with spartan grace. Many times I stopped to repeat stanzas to myself, marvelling at the mastery of the form. And the observations of modern manners and relationships are incredibly perceptive, deliciously delivered in mic-dropping stanzas. The characters can be gaspingly rude, obscene, comic, mysterious and sensitive, but all are recognisable within the middle-class universe in which they orbited.
SPOILER ALERT: THIS IS NOT A NOVEL FROM ‘THE STREETS’
As we get further into the book, we are drip-fed information about the murders and the subsequent trial of the husband of Rose Bracewell through newspaper headlines and cuttings, where the rhyming novel from the unknown author is entered into evidence. Meanwhile, our narrator journeys through a family estrangement, a doomed love affair and then, later, tragedy. There are so many questions – who is the author? How much is this novel a reflection of the reality of his life? How did he meet his untimely end?
His character is enigmatic – intelligent, gallant, poetic, thoughtful, sensitive, astonishingly self-aware and erudite. And yet he can be flippant, mistrustful, easy to anger, unforgiving and savage. There are plenty of clues dangled tantalisingly throughout and it is hard to know how to interpret them all. Between all the different sources, narrators, criticism and clues my head spun!
For me, it is in the drama where the novel really shines. In the teeth of calamity, the leanness of the prose elevates the scene, injecting pace and energy that can never be captured by dull old non-rhyming prose. I want all my drama written this way from now on!
AT ITS HEART THERE IS A DARN GOOD STORY
The dialogue, too, accelerates to a snappy, brisk gallop, the style setting a tempo that forces the arguments and many pithy putdowns off the page entirely. Battles pitch back and forth; gladiatorial, epic, enthralling, bewitching.
There is so much to admire here and I’m pleased to report that at its heart there is a darn good story which had me turning pages quicker and quicker as it sped towards its denouement. And yes, the murder mystery is solved.
There were some elements I struggled with. I think there is a certain self-awareness in places which, to the average reader such as myself, might come across as a bit too knowing. But all told, this is a dizzying feat of imagination and erudition. If this is an example of rhyming prose fiction, I’m all for it.
Ed Bingham is a local author based in Brede.
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