THE MOMENT
Douglas Kennedy
Hutchinson
Cold war tales of espionage and callous police states versus the freedom of the West are far from unusual. Also not uncommon are Le Carré-like plots that run a Prato-inspired roller-coaster of complexity. However, Kennedy’s ability to grab one by the throat with his observations, literary language, light philosophy and stylish narrative make this a cut above a lot of them.
The story looks back to when, in the west of divided Berlin, Thomas Nesbitt meets the love of his life, and makes the mistake of his life, one his only friend in Berlin and his only friend in America tell him he will never forget.
Kennedy, writing his 10th novel, continues to explore the theme of escape. A young American writer on the cusp of being, Nesbitt comes across an East German translator when he starts to write for a radio station beamed to the reds. Beautiful she may be, but it is the sense that she is existing in a half-world of searing sorrow that propels him towards her.
A political refugee, Petra Dussman is part of an east-west exchange. So, how important is she? Dangerous or pathetic? It didn’t matter in the beginning.
Secrets revealed and secrets kept infuse an intense devotion that leads to betrayal, reflection and, forever, regret.
The love they share, the passion that keeps the windows fogged up, is not enough in the real world of lies for which they have to leave their cocoon day after day.
While some of the layers are being revealed, Kennedy is showing us, in updated Isherwood fashion, the West Berlin of the 1980s, when richly described gay drug-addicted housemate painters got beaten up and married Muslim men couldn’t be drawn to other men; when Café Istanbul and Café Ankara were a reflection of Kreuzberg, just on the other side of the wall.
Berlin, even divided Berlin, was alive. The Berlin Philharmonic played to full houses. The clubs were full. There was a desperation that came of living in a free city within a foreign state.
Kennedy credibly offers us one story, then another, then yet another. Which is true? Certainly, Nesbitt was flawed. Certainly Petra was not the victim she portrayed herself to be. Or was she?
Never escaping surveillance, Nesbitt escaped, and continued to escape, from the country, from a later cold marriage, from almost anything that bound him. But he couldn’t escape Berlin.
Twenty-five years later, he returns, compelled by a box of effects which had been sent to him in Maine. In a now thriving and united Berlin, he is confronted first by the outward signs of prosperity – construction site after construction site.
Then he is confronted by his inner demons… a meeting and a letter from Deine Petra, which spits up the last bits of the puzzle that has haunted him for decades. Finally, the reasons why he was never able to forget make sense. More guilt. And the realisation that’s it is too late.
In authorial privilege, Kennedy has Nesbitt and Dussman write incredibly detailed journals at a time when she had little time and no privacy. And they kissed deeply a dozen times too many. But those carps are small and this multifaceted story partly set in a Stasi-run state with all its inhumanities make this skilfully crafted tragedy gripping indeed.
You may almost cry. - Cape Times