Shakespeare, N. (2010) Inheritance. London: Harvill Secker
Summary
Andy Larkham is due at the funeral of his favourite schoolteacher (Furnivall), who once told him, 'It's hard being anyone'. It's especially hard for Andy. Stuck in a dead-end job at Carpe Diem - struggling publisher of self-help books - he is continually hard-up and his fiancèe Sophie is about to ditch him. He attends the wrong funeral by mistake, but the consequence is that he inherits 17 million pounds! But then comes the nagging questions: 'Who precisely was my benefactor?' and (when his benefactor's estranged daughter Jeanine appears) 'Have I the right to accept this inheritance?'
My comments
I didn't care about Andy Larkham, primarily because he's such a bland, boring character, with no depth or interest. At first, I didn't care about Christopher Madigan (Krikor Makertich) either - and for the same reasons. As the book progresses, we learn a lot about Madigan and the source of his wealth in the sale of a vast iron ore mine in The Pilbara. We learn little more about Larkham, except that he tries to solve his moral quandary - should he keep the money that would normally go to Madigan's estranged daughter - by writing a fictitious autobiography of Madigan.
(The aim of the ' autobiography' is to correct Jeanine's belief that her estranged father was a ruthless, insensitive ogre and. It draws on long conversations with Madigan's long-time live-in housekeeper Maral Bernhard, background research by Larkham's best friend David and Larkham's interest in French philosopher Montaigne.)
The book's essential message is, 'Money can't buy you happiness'! Shakespeare's attempt to flesh-out this cliché by setting Madigan's childhood and background in the time of the massacre of the Armenians by the Turks seems tokenistic at best and exploitative at worst. He dabbles in the history and toys with the horror while the mainstream of his story - Larkham comes to terms with his wealth - continues untouched by it all.
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