Genre:
Contemporary Fiction/Humor
Description:
Claire
Rivers returns home to find her husband, Bryan, has committed
suicide, no longer able to deal with his depression. A music
executive, Jason Clemence, calls and offers Bryan the recording
contract he’d always craved, unfortunately the artist is no more.
Claire however, at Clemence’s suggestion, agrees to publish Bryan’s
music posthumously, to massive success…
Author:
Danny
Gillan was raised and still lives in Glasgow, Scotland. His first
ambition was to be a musician, but ended up in the pub and hotel
trade for a number of years in a wide variety of roles, interspersed
with periods in social care.
Danny has
written two novels, and a series of short stories which have appeared
in several magazines and anthologies.
Appraisal:
I’ve
previously reviewed another piece of Danny Gillan’s work, A
Selection of Meats and Cheeses
– a collection of short stories, so I was very pleased to pick up a
full-length novel of the author’s.
This is a
long book (for me anyway) at 130,000 words however, even the shortest
of narratives can feel like they take forever to read if they’re
badly written, and vice versa. In this case the story literally
tripped off the pages and I found myself hooked – Will You Love Me
Tomorrow becomes increasingly compelling as it progresses.
One of the
aspects I liked about it was the relatively few characters, meaning
the author achieved a significant focus on the impact of Bryan’s
depression / suicide. All were strong, well-drawn and added to the
story and its progression. One in particular I liked was Clemence’s
boss – Phillip Doland. He’s someone most of us would recognize (I
do), a manager who’s risen to the top on other people’s hard
work. Phillip uses bizarre swear words and is oblivious to everyone
around him because all he sees is himself.
Claire
herself is also very good. She could have been swept away in the
suicide and aftermath, but strengthens throughout and finally turns
the tables on the record company. Jason is a fish out of water, one
minute confident, the next shaky. His interaction with Phillip is
well done. Another valuable character is Bryan’s brother Thomas.
He’s dislikable, a stuffed shirt who never valued his brother’s
ability.
The story
is made all the more touching, because, with the suicide laid out at
the beginning, the reader knows the characters can do nothing to
prevent Bryan’s fall. But we see the why and the characters
learning from this as an experience.
The
author’s experience in this field came through very clearly. Gillan
doesn’t glorify the depression, rather it is portrayed as an
affliction that can have a terrible impact on people – the
treatment was compassionate, caring and tinged with humour. In fact,
the latter element lifted the story too, it was by no means down and
depressing. Ultimately it was uplifting and positive. The conclusion
was satisfying.
Well
written, touching, funny and reinforced my view that Danny Gillan is
a high quality writer.
FYI:
Some
swearing.
Added for
Reprise Review: Winner in the Humor category for 2014 Readers' Choice
Awards at BigAl’s Books and Pals. Original review ran September 10,
2013.
Format/Typo
Issues:
Nothing
major.
Reviewed by: Keith Nixon
Approximate
word count: 125-130,000 words
Rating:
***** Five stars
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