Louise Welsh - The Bullet Trick (2006)
Reviewed by Fiona Walker
Welsh's second novel, remarkably structured and just as grimy and atmospheric as her first, comes four years after her debut. But if it that's how long it takes to write a novels of this quality, then I'm happy.
The protagonist this time is a down-and-out conjurer of true Poe nomenclature, William Wilson. Performing a show for the retirement of a police officer - Wilson knows he's only audience fodder before the stripper turns up and works a different kind of magic - gets him into more trouble than he could possibly have imagined when he agrees to do a favour for a friend and snatch back an incriminating document from one of the policemen.
At first William has no inkling of the ramifications of the favor, and when he's offered a string of cabaret gigs in Berlin, he accepts and jets off. In Berlin William is free to abandon his past, and even to some extent his present, and starts to fall for the charms of a young woman he meets, Sylvie, who he invites to participate in his shows. But the spectators from his last show have unfinished business with William Wilson.
Second novel disease has bypassed Louise Welsh completely. The Bullet Trick is, in fact, even better than The Cutting Room. It is perhaps less seedy, but it's more focused, and direct, which raises the bar of her talent considerably. Not only that, but the structure of this novel is brought off with great skill - sections alternate between London, Berlin, and Glasgow. Before, During, and After, almost. The thought of trying to pull off such a split, not only geographical but temporal, would, I suppose, have most writers biting their fingernails nervously, but Welsh succeeds excellently with it. Initially it takes a little time to settle into the book and realize which bit fits where, but it's actually relatively easy to accomplish, and when done, the resulting read is exceptionally rewarding.
The atmospheres of cabaret Berlin, of dirty London, of the dangerous return to Scotland, are entirely distinct, while a kind of universal dark brooding atmosphere casts itself over the whole thing. Welsh conjures up the gothic and the baroque in the equal measures, and Poe's influence is seen in more than just the lead character's name: there's a touch of "The Fall of the House of User" in the denouement, too. William Wilson is similar to Rilke of The Cutting Room, a very flawed but charming man. He's a very human character, and one who knows his flaws and the scrapes and twists they get him into throughout the book.
The Bullet Trick is a very strong second showing. It's atmospheric, surprising, and, even given the somewhat eccentric nature of the material (as with the antique world in The Cutting Room), oddly realistic. It's the contribution of the charming, the gothic, the realistic, and the utter command she has of her prose which makes Welsh an absolute must-read.
Posted by Fiona Walker in Book Reviews | Permalink
