Happy Family by James Ellis

Germaine Kiecke, an art critic and broadcaster, is the lead character in this well-crafted and thought-provoking novel. Or, is she? Several characters reflect different facets of the story, so reading it feels like walking in a portrait gallery, or flicking through a graphic novel. Because Germaine’s childhood was destroyed by vindictive abusers, she learned early in life how to escape from reality into fantasy. She has difficulty in sustaining relationships, and fails to ‘articulate the images in her mind’. Her live-in lover has moved out, and she leads a solitary but contented existence, finding comfort in playing ‘Happy Family’, an augmented reality game, because ‘inside the bubble was better than outside’.

Ambitious to achieve success in her academic field, Germaine is enthusiastic about art and artists. She especially admires the work of Tom Hannah, and is prepared to take risks in order to seek him out and interview him for her next book. Unfortunately, her idol does not want to be found. Tom’s genius lies in the area of comic books and game design, and he created the massively popular game ‘Happy Family’. However, due to a bereavement, his outlook has become dark and hopeless. He explains this by saying, ‘….a heart attack or a stroke, it’s like you think about it as an event….It’s what that event takes away from your life….’ This is an experience with which many readers will identify. As a result, Tom has detached himself from the world in general and the art establishment in particular.

When Germaine’s quest to find Tom begins, he is living as a recluse, in a part of Spain so secluded it is barely accessible, on a neglected estate enclosed by high walls. The runaway who half-protects, half-imprisons him resembles a Manga figure, and the three huge dogs who patrol the boundaries are like mythological creatures. This is a game of many parts, and as the plot develops, supporting characters emerge, each of them introducing a fresh angle. A pair of agents, Germaine’s and Tom’s, try to second-guess each other, ignoring the wishes of their clients. Bit-part actors provoke and undermine each other, in competition for a juicy role in a new game. A dysfunctional family inhabits a comfortless hotel full of secrets. Revengeful hackers run riot in a dream landscape.

James Ellis describes places so vividly that the landscape becomes another character. Tom’s mountain sanctuary is ‘a lawless, unconstrained area’, the sea view Germaine admires has ‘a lightness of spirit’ and the houses in an ancient village are ‘sea-scarred’. They resemble locations from a computer game, detailed and emotive, with a perspective that is almost too accurate. Throughout the book there are references to frames, like those used in cartoon strips and storyboards. Trying to explain why she loves paintings, Germaine says, ‘I wanted all the pain in my life to be put in a frame.’

‘Happy Family’ is about quests. All the characters are on journeys, both physical and emotional. There is plenty of humour along the way, as greedy explorers elbow each other aside, in an effort to win more than their fair share of gold stars. However, there are deeper quests: for a hero, for a reputation, for meaning in life. Germaine describes Tom’s personal dilemma as ‘existence versus essence’, and other characters pose their own questions. Are we what we are, or what we do? Are our words ‘meaningless bubbles of air’? Is it best to halt all meaningless striving, and ‘just be’?

This novel works on more than one level, and may appeal to readers across a number of genres: fantasy, romance, inspirational, cyberpunk.

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