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Review: Mr. Chartwell

Author: Rebecca Hunt
Published: 2010 by The Dial Press
Source: Purchased
Genre: Fiction, Other
Format: Hardcover
Dimensions: 21.7cm x 14.5cm x 2.4cm
Weight: 13 oz

     After nearly three months of dreary, gray skies and chilling Arctic winds, I burst into the local Barnes&Noble looking for a cure to my winter blues. Perusing the New Writers section, my eyes were immediately drawn to the inviting buttercup yellow cover of Mr. Chartwell. As I expected, the slim volume of 241 pages slid easily into my handbag, accompanying me to yoga, the vet, restaurants and the dentist. What I did not expect was the thought-provoking story that unfolded. At times as tenebrous and oppressive as those dark winter nights I had sought to escape, the gravity of the subject matter far outweighs the physical novel's scant 13 ounces.
     Mr. Chartwell draws back the curtains on an early morning in Kent, July 1964, to reveal Winston Churchill lying awake in bed, painfully aware of a black presence lurking both in his mind and in his room. The second chapter shifts the narrative to a house in London, where librarian Esther Hammerhans nervously awaits the arrival of a potential lodger seeking to rent her upstairs boxroom. But the lodger who comes knocking is not at all who, or even what, Esther expected to meet. Churchill's lingering black entity and Esther's mysterious lodger are one in the same: Mr. Chartwell.
     Charismatic and powerful, Mr. Chartwell's destructive influence pervades every aspect of Churchill's life and his grasp upon Esther's mind tightens with each passing moment. The duration of Mr. Chartwell's stay an unknown, Churchill and Esther endure his occupancy, but to what ends? His motives are a mystery. Little do they know that within a mere five days their lives will be irrevocably altered and Mr. Chartwell's visitations will never be forgotten.
     When first embarking upon Mr. Chartwell, I found that the most useful piece of advice came from the back cover's Library Journal review, which reads, "Please, willingly suspend disbelief." Initially I scoffed politely, thinking that surely any avid reader of fiction already possesses a healthy imagination, enabling them to delve into the most fantastically fabricated stories without pausing to express skepticism. Satisfied with the buoyancy of my own imagination and my ability to believe the unbelievable, I tucked into the novel with gusto...only to come to a screeching barely a dozen pages in. Blinking owlishly a few times to clear my eyes, I reread the page. Finding no difference between my first and second reading, I leaned back and closed the book over my thumb to mark my place and contemplate. Tentatively, I turned the book over to look at the review I had been so quick to dismiss and reread aloud, "Please, willingly suspend disbelief." Almost apologetically, I nodded to the review, reopened the book and allowed myself to believe. Two hundred and forty one pages later I closed the book with a sad but wistful little smile that affirmed, Mr. Chartwell is the best read I have had in a long time.
      Artist Pablo Picasso is quoted to have said, "Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth." There is no novel that so aptly fits this quote as Mr. Chartwell, a prime example of fiction writing that reads with exquisite honesty. The reader's personal difficulty with accepting the narrative as the reality is the only obstacle to truly enjoying and deriving meaning from this marvelous novel. Mr. Chartwell is brilliantly evocative of the darkness within the human condition, using Mr. Chartwell's alluring and repulsive nature to captivate the reader from beginning to end. Rebecca Hunt delights with her humor, providing us with characters we can't help but applaud. Her descriptions are sumptuously tactile and voyeuristic, the reader following Mr. Chartwell in everything he does. Simultaneously dark and illuminating, hopeless and hopeful, Hunt arrests us with her thought-provoking portrayal of the corporeal embodiment of depression. Emotive and masterfully original, Mr. Chartwell is a tender depiction of real life struggles and the indelible spirit of the hopeful.
     Will I ever read this book again? The answer: Yes! Mr. Chartwell is a brilliant debut novel for Rebecca Hunt. When I next see her name amongst the newest releases, I will eagerly clasp it in hand, thumbs poised to open the cover, and recite, "Please, willingly suspend disbelief."
    
4 Star Rating: 4 Stars

The Handbag


Mr. Chartwell will fit easily into this "Dolci Hobo Handbag: Fumetto Print" by Tokidoki. With 2 to 3 inches of space around the book, you won't have to worry about scuffing the corners or losing much needed room for your music player, sunglasses and other essentials!