The brief was a shot that would echo the atmosphere of the novel, a life lived through the 20th century. The first chapter finds the 4 year old boy left alone for the whole day by his mother on the sands of Walcot in Norfolk. The thought that his mother may have hoped that he wasn’t there when she returned disturbs him for the rest of his life.
I took my family to Walcot in Norfolk on a very cold winter’s day and my little daughter heroically posed for the shot in her little shorts. The image was to wrap around the book so needed to be quite a wide shot.
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On the glorious sands of the North Norfolk coast, Steve, the youngest member of the Fielding family, plays alone. But are these halcyon days? The great events of the Twentieth Century are about to sweep Steve and his sister Sonia into deep waters. Chance is all. The fortunes of the Fielding family continue through the storms of world events marking the outrageous years of the Twentieth Century.
On the glorious sands of the North Norfolk coast, Steve, the youngest member of the Fielding family, plays alone. But are these halcyon days? The great events of the Twentieth Century are about to sweep Steve and his sister Sonia into deep waters. Chance is all. The fortunes of the Fielding family continue through the storms of world events marking the outrageous years of the Twentieth Century.
“Walcot” reveals Aldiss at his formidable and all-embracing best.
Brian Aldiss has described this novel as his magnum opus.
