Rating: Shortlisted for the Booker, need I say more?
Although I have been reading less these days, I seem to be picking up surprising number of books that are centered around seafaring, exploration theme, such as The Sea of Poppies (Amitav Ghosh), or The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton and this one, Jamrach’s Menagerie by Carol Birch. I have not been picking these sea-themed novels by wish but mere accident. The common theme in them being The Booker Prize selection which is always a safe bet.
It is not that I have no resonation with the theme, I grew near a city with the sea, Bombay. And of course we have a long connection with England. This one’s based in Victorian London. The wretchedness of living on 19th century London streets through the eyes of a little boy might remind one of Dickens’ works, and the beginning chapters are very reminiscent of the same. But eventually the protagonist of the novel, Jaffy Brown, finds his own voice and tells his own unique story.
The book itself has been inspired by 2-3 real life events. One is that of a German naturalist Charles Jamrach who indeed used to own a menagerie on Ratcliffe Highway and where at one time a Bengal tiger escaped from his cage and walked onto the street and a boy of nine was so awestruck by the animal that he did not run or scream but looked at the animal and stroked its nose.
This event and another separate event, the sinking of a whaleship called Essex around 1820 where many sailors, most of whom were teenagers died, became the premise of the novel. Whales were a source of oil and were an important component in the booming industrial era. Along with the exploration for new lands, trades, and hunting for whales had become an important maritime activity.
The time when the protagonist Jaffy lived in London was a time of political turmoil, especially for the lower classes. The riches coming from England’s colonies in no way changed their circumstances. To Londoners living at the time living on Ratcliffe Highway, this place had also become infamous for the Ratcliffe Highway murders.
In the novel, the chance encounter with the tiger leads to events that change Jaffy’s life and he finds himself aboard a whaleship. The most important parts of the novel is the dynamics between Jaffy and his friend Tim Linver, with whom he shares a sibling rivalry-revelry. His relation with the forces of nature and his fascination with the creatures of the wild, at whom he looks at with a terrified awe, also develops in interesting ways. Making no compromise on literary merit, this page is still a pageturner. The book is a great testimony to the writer’s research and imagination in bringing these interesting people to life.
