One Good Turn by K. Atkinson/ British Novels روايات بريطانية (1/2)

2006, Black Swan, 527 pages.
I read Kate Atkinson’s novel, Good Turn, twice. What is similar to what is in it is the way in which the narrator talks about characters, events and relationships between characters, for example, the quality of the relationship between, Jackson Brodie, the private investigator, and his girlfriend Julia. Let’s for instance look at this. The two love each other but there beaviours and their attitudes are quite contrasted. And so are their opinions and social representations. Were the two of them ill-associated persons?
Here is an excerpt from the novel by Kate Atkinson (page 122). The reader will discover what it is about :

He was about to set off back when his eye was caught by something on the rocks below the remains of a concrete lookout. For a second he thought it was a bundle of clothing that had been dropped there, he hoped it was a bunch of clothing but it didn’t take him more than a skipped heartbeat to know it was a body that had been cast up by the tide.

In the novel prevails, most of the time, a sad and strange atmosphere, as the writer refers to the strangeness of life, death, and the passage of time, which saddens and gives rise to pessimism. This reflects people’s reflections, memories, and feelings. The writer condemns greed and heinous behaviour towards vulnerable animals.

Detective Jackson Brodie comes from a very humble working class background and he has a sad story as he lost his parents his father was a miner and suffered from the harshness with which British Prime Minister M. Thatcher dealt with the miners’ strike. He also lost his sister who was raped, killed and thrown into a canal and he finally lost his brother who had committed suicide because he felt responsible for this tragic event. Regarding Julia, her friend, she lost one of her sisters, little Olivia, who completely disappeared one day in the morning.

But just because the rich not only can afford to do everything, including murdering, cheating on their wives and evade taxes, doesn’t mean they can get away with it. There is the law, protection by police firces and, as the author or put it, « cosmic justice ».

Discovery of a corpse. Detective Jackson Brodie was taking advantage of the low tide to walk and he was surprised by the high tide. He then discovered a woman’s body floating. He tried in vain to bring the body back to the shore, but the current carried him further and further. He was eventually saved. At another time, during low tide, he discovers a pile of clothes. Who is the woman?