Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor — life goes on
Of all the books long-listed for the 2017 Man Booker prize, Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor was the one I most wanted to read. Having done so I’m at a loss to understand why the Booker judges failed to select this for the shortlist. Not for the first time it seems the judges’ idea of what makes an outstanding novel is a mile apart from my own thinking.
Reservoir 13 is, quite simply, an extraordinary novel. It gives an innovative twist to the device of a missing girl; has a meticulously plotted structure and a mesmeric poetic style of writing.
The springboard is the disappearance of 13 year old Rebecca Shaw from the holiday cottage in England’s Peak District where she is spending New Year’s Eve with her parents. Initially it seems the novel is treading a familiar path; one which traces the ensuing search, the grief of the girl’s family and the shock of the community before the revelation of what happened to Rebecca. So we get police helicopters buzzing overhead, villagers turning out to sweep the frozen moors and divers trawling through the reservoirs.
It’s all in vain. Rebecca Shaw is nowhere to be found. Not that day or in the following weeks, months and even years. McGregor keeps alive the possibility that she may be found however; tantalising us with the discovery of a navy-blue body-warmer identical to the one Rebecca wore the night she disappeared; several mentions of disused lead mines and characters who have secrets they would prefer lay undiscovered.
A Crime Novel That Isn’t A Crime Novel
McGregor’s stroke of ingenuity is to make us think this is all adding up to be a murder mystery/crime kind of novel, while all the time writing an entirely different of book.
What Reservoir 13 is about is essentially the ebb and flow of life in a rural community showing how, despite a human tragedy, life does go on. Cows are milked, crops planted and harvested, tea rooms opened, kilns fired. Babies are born; children grow up and experiment with drugs and sex; people fall in and out of love; some fall sick; others die. Some villagers leave, others return.
In the immediate aftermath of Rebecca’s disappearance, the villagers scale back on some of their time-honoured traditions and festivities as a mark of respect for her family. But as the years pass and still she is not found, they make a return appearance on the calendar: the charity dance in spring, well dressing in mid summer; the cricket match against the neigbouring village; harvest festival; the winter pantomime and fireworks at New Year
Life’s Small Dramas
McGregor follows the daily lives of a large set of villagers, watching them deal with small and not-so-small sorrows and disappointments over the course of 13 years. Child pornography; depression; marital discord; examination failures and successes; all human life is recorded in this novel.
There’s Irene who puts on a brave face even when her special needs son becomes violent; Jackson the farmer, who rules his sons’ lives from his sick bed and Jones the school caretaker whose protective attitude towards his boilerhouse is suspicious.
None of these villagers dominate the novel; there is in fact no central character. Often all we get is a fleeting glimpse of their lives, a single sentence or a short conversation alone signalling their attitudes, their vulnerabilities and how their lives are changing. It’s a style that calls for careful reading — blink and you can easily miss some essential detail.
The cycle of human life is echoed in the rhythms of the natural world — the flowering of trees and wild plants, mating and hibernation of wildlife and weather conditions marking the changing of the seasons.
The swallows returned in numbers, and could be seen flying in and out of the open doors at the lambing shed at the Jacksons’ and the cowsheds over at Thompson’s, and the outbuildings up at the Hunter’s land. … There was rain and the river was high and the hawthorn by the lower meadows came out foaming white. The cow parsley was thick along the footpaths and the shade deepened under the trees.
Through meticulous layering of details and repetition Reservoir 13 marks the turning of the years. Every chapter, each of which takes us one year on, begins in the same way: a sentence noting the fireworks on New Year’s Eve. Yet with a few small changes McGregor shows how life is changing for this community.
Chapter 2, which marks the first anniversary of Rebecca’s disappearance begins
At midnight when the year turned there were fireworks going up from the towns beyond the valley but they were too far off for the sound to carry to the few who’d come out to watch.
By year 4, the villagers are in more of a celebration mood:
At midnight when the year turned there were fireworks on the television in the pub and dancing in the street outside.
Almost a decade later however, after New Year’s Eve is marked by arson attacks at a caravan and the allotments, the villagers are more cautious about their celebrations:
At midnight when the year turned there were fireworks going up from the towns beyond the valley but no one in the village even lifted their heads to look.
McGregor’s prose is rhythmic and measured, seeming simple on the surface yet with such precision and detail that you feel immersed in the life of this community and drawn towards its inhabitants. It’s the kind of writing that can easily sweep you along. I forced myself to slow down, reading just one chapter a night so I could savour it more fully.
Even while absorbed in their own lives, the village can never completely forget what happened on that one night so many years ago. Periodically McGregor reminds us of the girl’s disappearance, even in the final chapter some 13 years after her disappearance we are told:
The missing girl had not yet been forgotten. The girl’s name was Rebecca or Becky or Beks. She had been looked for everywhere. … It was no good.
This is in short a wonderful novel. The best I have read this year.
It seems I am not alone in my enthusiasm for this book. Take a look at reviews by Lisa at ANZlitlovers, Susan at A Life in Books and Paul at MookesandGripes.
Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor: Footnotes
Jon McGregor was born in Bermuda in 1976, grew up in Norfolk, and now lives in Nottingham, England. He is a winner of the IMPAC Dublin Literature Prize, the Betty Trask Prize and the Somerset Maugham Award. In 2002, his first novel If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things was longlisted for the Booker Prize, making him the youngest ever contender. His second novel was longlisted for the prize in 2006. He is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Nottingham, where he edits the Letters Page, a literary journal in letters.
Reservoir 13 was published in 2017 by 4th Estate, an imprint of Harper Collins. It won the Costa Book Award that year, was shortlisted for the Goldsmith’s Prize and longlisted for the Booker Prize.
This review was published at Bookertalk.com in 2017. This is a revised version to incorporate formatting changes to improve readability and a new image. It is re-published in support of #throwbackthursday hosted by Davida @ The Chocolate Lady’s Book Review Blog.
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This is my knd of novel too, a portrait of a community going through thick and thin. Thanks for reposting this review, I really got a lot from it.
I loved the way he showed the community changing and yet many aspects of the life remained the same
Prizes and I don’t get on. It seems to me they are very rarely for good writing and most often just for entertaining stories well told. The opening lines (about new year’s fireworks) that you quoted have a real rhythm to them. Who was it way up there who said 13 chapters each 13 paragraphs? – it sounds like everything has been carefully thought out.
I don’t know who said that Bill sorry. Yes McGregor clearly thought about the structure when he started writing
I agree, this book deserved more! And it did win a few things. Can’t wait to read his latest.
Lean, Fall, Stand is a superb book. Very different to Reservoir 13 but still has the same poetic feel. One of my best reads this year Laura
As an aside the book contains thirteen chapters each containing thirteen paragraphs.
I hadn’t noticed that structure Tony. He certainly gave himself a challenge to construct the book within those tight parameters
Based on 13 moon phases in a year. I think it is one of the most brilliant novels written in the last decade or so. His latest? I was disappointed.
Surprised to hear you didn’t enjoy Lean, Fall, Stand as much – I was looking on your blog to see what you found disappointing but I didn’t find a review.
No I didn’t review it, maybe one day, I thought it was a bit of a “one trick wonder” using the stroke. I may revisit & post more in-depth thoughts as I generally love his work. Maybe I missed something.
I’ll keep an eye out in case you do the review
wow, your best novel this year? I’m really intrigued now
I should have said it was my best novel that year. But his latest book, Lean Fall Stand is actually one of my best this year!
I don’t know why I hadn’t heard about this book before; it’s now on my list. There are so many fine writers and superb novels about that I wouldn’t want to be a judge of any major competition.
I’m a Jon McGregor fan, so I’m not sure why this book has passed me by. It’s firmly on the list now. Thanks.
I adored this book so much. I like his writing generally but I thought that structurally this was a bit of a masterpiece.
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“There is no central character” – exactly, and that’s what makes this so special. “The location is a character” is an old cliche that gets trotted out a lot, but it actually fits here… I also loved how the descriptions of nature were not framed in a human’s perception. Most of the nature stuff was things no human witnessed – the bats hibernating, the foxes mating, etc.
I read this the same way, one “year” per evening. Except at the end, I read 11-13 all at once and stayed up WAY too late!
I hadn’t realised that about the natural events but yes they are ones that go on without human intervention of any kind.
I’m pretty indifferent to the Booker as a prize (sorry!) but this does sound very good. Lovely detail there on the fireworks and it does sound rather blink and you’ll miss it as you say.
One for the list I think, and for a quieter reading moment.
If you do get to read it Max, I would recommend taking it at a slow pace to fully savour it
I didn’t love the Booker shortlist last year, and so have kind of taken this year off from following the prize … in fact, this was one of the long-listed books that didn’t ring any bells with me as I hadn’t heard anything about it until it was nominated. You’ve convinced me to join the waiting list at the library to see what the judged missed 😉
Too bad. I already have two of his books on the piles. It sounds excellent.
Although I’ve only read one of his books, it landed him on my MustReadEverything list. His perspective on story – the interconnectedness of it all – thrills me to bits. I’m really looking forward to this one!
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Check out the book, Reservoir 13, by Jon McGregor, as featured on the Booker Talk blog.
It surprises me how fast we move on from tragedy, but in the case of this novel, she isn’t discovered for 13 years (I assume). 13 years is a long time…how long do we mourn the loss of one person? 13 year seems too long, but I am not in the shoes of the family who lost their daughter.
it is a long time but there is a case which is well known in UK of a four year old who went missing on holiday and the police are still searching for her 10 years later.
Oh, wow! I always wonder how these play out in real life.
The Booker has baffled me for years! This sounds wonderful – I always think a missing person is so much harder for a community, or even for a family, than a murder. It’s that sense of never being sure, not feeling you can properly move on – no ‘closure’. Great review!
That does seem to be the problem – people feel they are in limbo and although they don’t really want to hear bad news, its the not knowing they find hardest to deal with
I didn’t love it quite as much as you but I admired it and thought it showed great originality. I particularly liked the repetition element you mentioned. I was surprised when it didn’t make the shortlist. But then what do we know, us mere readers lol!
I think I should give up trying to predict what the judges will select since clearly I am no good at it!
I have seen so much love around for this book, and your review tells me why. It sounds absolutely outstanding and you have pretty much persuaded me to buy it. Great review.
I think you might well like this Ali
I haven’t yet read this (it’s moving up the pike after reading your review) but I was astounded by some of the books that didn’t make the short list. Do you think ‘they only do it to annoy because they know it teases’?
Leaving out ‘dead certs’ means they get more media attention. Not that I am suggesting they do it deliberately …..
Oh no! Neither of us would ever dream of doing such a thing……
High praise indeed – I’ll look out for it then!
Hope it joins the list you want to read
I’m at a loss, too. I’m so glad you loved this, Karen. It’s an extraordinary piece of writing.
I just added a link to your review – meant to do this earlier but pressed ‘publish’ button too fast in my desire to get out in the sunshine
Very kind. Thank you
I like missing person stories and this one is quite original.. people adapt and everything changes through time and I believe he worded this perfectly in this novel. I like that there’s still that doubt and hope of finding her throughout the story though, the only thing that is probably the most unrealistic aspect of the story but which is wanted and satisfies the reader of course.
There is a long running story in the UK about a small child who went missing from a holiday villa many years ago – the parents have never given up hope that she is still alive so I think its realistic to hold out the possibility Rebecca will be found (or probably her body)
Thank you for this review. It really made me want to read this.
Oh I do hope you get to read this
Yes, I quite agree, I thought it was wonderful.
This is a lovely review, and I suspect that while sales may not be the same Mcgregor will have many more actual readers who finish the book than the eventual Booker winner will.
I’m planning to give a copy of this as a Christmas present to at least 5 people……
Lucky people!
Fortunately the Goldsmiths’ judges – who consistently have better taste than the Booker judges – did shortlist it.
Thank goodness some sanity is in existence in the literary world
Our panel didn’t predict this one would make it but I agree with your review and thought it was a fantastic book. It was probably one of my favorites on the list this year (although that honor is reserved for Autumn). I thought half the shortlist was well deserved but the other half boggles my mind