Digging into the past for present day resolution

Shooting Angels

Hope’s latest offering is an enticing one, beautifully written, albeit a little long-winded

“FIRST hear what the angels say, then shoot them if you must”.

The South African author digs deep into love, guilt, betrayal and resolution, but he also touches on his country’s battles to overcome complex demons. Hope, author of White Boy Running and My Mother’s Lovers, is no stranger to racism and politics.

This story is told in four parts. We are introduced to Charlie Croker, ostensibly a nondescript English teacher living — or existing — in a village euphemistically described as the back of beyond. His students have little respect for him and he appears to have even less for himself.

“I have no interest in the future and not much in the present. What moves me most is what isn’t here any longer, that which is not”, is a typical soliloquy.

Enter an unwelcome blast from the past. Loud, brash Joe Angel is now one of the country’s most notorious businessman. He turns up out of the blue with a fistful of cash and a message for his old friend — come back to the capital and learn what really happened to Constanza, the woman he loved, years earlier.

The reader is acutely aware that there is more to Charlie and Joe’s friendship than just two pals who have drifted apart because one is successful and the other is not. Charlie is furious at Joe turning up, and initially wants nothing to do with him. However, it’s as if a fire has been reignited and he finds he cannot ignore the request.

But by the time Charlie reaches the city, the tycoon is dead, assumed murdered, and so begins Charlie’s epic journey into his past.

The second part brings us back to a young Charlie and Joe, thrown together as unlikely allies in a home for boys. The friendship is fraught with challenges — Joe wants to be the next Al Capone, while Charlie is happy just being in love — but the bond between the two is tight.

In part three, we learn more about Constanza and how Charlie’s blinded love for her leads him to contemplate risks he would never have taken before. Her demise, and who is ultimately responsible for it, is the driver throughout the book.

The final part takes us back to the present, where Joe Angel is laid to rest, amid the same controversy that he enjoyed for most of his life. And, finally, Charlie learns more about what happened on the night Constanza died and the truth behind Joe’s death.

Hope’s latest offering is an enticing one, beautifully written, albeit a little long-winded in parts. It draws us in and keeps us guessing. We believe in Charlie, though he frustrates, and although many of Joe’s actions are despicable, it’s not difficult to understand the power such a magnetic character has.