Undiscovered Scotland

 

"The Backstreets of Purgatory" by Helen Taylor is a memorable and intriguing book. For the avoidance of doubt, both "memorable" and "intriguing" are good. We reached the final page, which is separated from the first page by the better part of 480 other pages, with some slight uncertainty about whether the surprising conclusion was a product of the author's imagination or a product of the protagonist's imagination (and, of course, the author's). What you find is a very finely detailed depiction of the day-to-day lives of the central characters as they try to make their way in today's Glasgow. The effect, as it builds, could be likened to a pointillist painting. Close-up, all you see is a collection of small coloured dots. But as you pull back from the painting - or in this case the words on the page - even a little, the picture begins to take shape and assume form and purpose.

The reader's task of keeping track of reality isn't helped by the central character having such a hard time doing so himself. The rear cover of the book sets the scene. "Caravaggio in Glasgow: A Tale of Art, Insanity and Irn-Bru". So, where to start without spoiling the entertainment? It's a cop-out to rely on the dust jacket blurb for the storyline, but it does at least ensure we don't step beyond what the author want you to know: "Finn Garvie's destiny is to be Glasgow's modern-day Caravaggio. Or so he reckons. But the sad truth is that he's mucking it up. He spends his days {in} his makeshift studio, chain-smoking roll-ups and wallowing in artist's block. His girlfriend Lizzie treats him like one of her psychology patients, and he's immersed in a rivalry with his best mate Rob, who views his own tattoo designs as the height of artistic achievement."

To make things worse, Finn is convinced that someone is inhabiting his studio. It takes him a little while to establish that this is Caravaggio himself, a man who, before his death four centuries earlier, had more than his own share of mental and behavioural issues. Finn believes his salvation lies in the beautiful au-pair Kassia. He will paint her and it will be his masterpiece. Finn hopes that Caravaggio's presence will be the inspiration that he needs to get painting and prove his worth as an artist. On the face of it, though, that doesn't look very likely.

As an aside, it's worth noting that this book is the product of what is, to us, a novel form of publishing. The publisher, Unbound, appears to be a blend of traditional publisher and crowd-funding operation. It seems to us that any new approach to publishing that allows authors' voices to be heard is to be welcomed. We were especially impressed by the very high production values that this has brought to "The Backstreets of Purgatory". Yes, of course you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but a beautifully-bound hardback with a dust jacket and a built-in ribbon placemarker is something of a rarity these days, and certainly adds substance to the excellent story within. "The Backstreets of Purgatory" is the ideal book for someone looking for something just a little out of the ordinary.