An insight into Serenity House by Christopher Hope: Max Montfalcon lay in bed and tried to remember how many people he had killed…
Old Max, the genial giant of Serenity House, north London’s ‘Premier Eventide Refuge’, might have been left to die in peace. But his son-in-law Albert, an MP with a special interest in the War Crimes Bill, has other ideas. Then Jack arrives. An all-American boy who survives on a diet of video nasties and Chinese takeaways. Max is haunted by dreams of the Holocaust. And the occupants of Serenity House are haunted by Jack.
The impression this makes is both very unpleasant and deeply sad, but then this fine novel would have failed if it did not leave you feeling distinctly uncomfortable.
This book was nominated for the 1992 Booker Prize.
