The Satsuma Complex
By Bob Mortimer
I am so excited to review the first 2 chapters, thanks to Jess Barratt at Simon & Schuster has presented to me in e-book form. The star rating is based on the first 2 chapters alone as this is what I’ve been exceedingly lucky to have been gifted. I’ve liked Bob Mortimer’s work for a long time. His comedic style amuses me and although I’ve not been fishing since I was a child, I’ve been enjoying, most recently, “Mortimer and Whitehouse Gone Fishing”and all those tales and life experiences they share. Now, Bob Mortimer has a debut novel – The Satsuma Complex… Follow down to the blurb and see if the first 2 chapters capture my attention and imagination like his tv shows, it’s a big question as tv and books are in some ways different mediums. Find out if I’m hooked into this contemporary fiction…
Blurb
My name is Gary. I’m a thirty-year-old legal assistant with a firm of solicitors in London. To describe me as anonymous would be unfair but to notice me other than in passing would be a rarity. I did make a good connection with a girl, but that blew up in my face and smacked my arse with a fish slice.
Gary Thorn goes for a pint with a work acquaintance called Brendan. When Brendan leaves early, Gary meets a girl in the pub. He doesn’t catch her name, but falls for her anyway. When she suddenly disappears without saying goodbye, all Gary has to remember her by is the book she was reading: The Satsuma Complex. But when Brendan goes missing, Gary needs to track down the girl he now calls Satsuma to get some answers.
And so begins Gary’s quest, through the estates and pie shops of South London, to finally bring some love and excitement into his unremarkable life…
A page-turning story with a cast of unforgettable characters, The Satsuma Complex is the brilliantly funny first novel by bestselling author and comedian Bob Mortimer.
Review
Everything looks intriguing to begin with, from the cover to the blurb and the humour within it. But what of those pages inside?
From page 1 I start to get the measure of Gary Thorn, a 30 year old legal assistant and his seemingly “unremarkable life”. Bob Mortimer has painted a clear picture for the mind’s eye to capture him and how ordinary he is. I suspect he would be relatable to many people. From the start he draws you in, using first person narrative. It’s enough for curiosity to strike to want to know more about his life and see how this story pans out in what is a good premise, which gets even more intriguing when he and Brendan are down the pub.
Those first two chapters are fast-paced and I was becoming intrigued in the first chapter. A couple of pages into chapter 2 and I’m hooked, wishing I had the entire book, but also feeling exceedingly lucky to have these initial chapters.
Delving deeper into these chapters, there’s a slight air of intrigue and mystery within the characters, such as who is certain women? There is already humour in some of the chat and suddenly some poignancy. It tells a certain truth about London and the challenges of forming friendships etc.
I am impressed by the observations, laced with poignancy and humour. The writing style itself just works so well. It’s naturally formed and would make any reader truly see these characters down the pub, perhaps even their own local. It’s all easy on the eye and a book to truly relax into. When these 2 chapters ended, I was left of that feeling of wanting more. All these questions of where is it going to go, how will it end and I actually care about all of that.
Bob Mortimer can write as well as he can do tv. I scrutinised and thought about it carefully and there just seems there’s not much he cannot do. I reckon this shouldn’t be the first and last of Bob Mortimer’s novels.
I know this is only the first 2 chapters but I can honestly say I highly recommend people to get started on this book.
Bookmarks and Stages by Lou 