Meaty Issues

The first review of the novel talks about meaty issues, so I thought I'd elaborate on some of them. There's a lot going on in the novel aside from an age-gap relationship that gets the protagonist into trouble. I've presented a protagonist who has been brought up in a dysfunctional family yet can't break away from the emotional ties that keep him in an unhappy environment. The book exposes the power of the guilt trips and how parents especially can control their children by battering their self-esteem. Alan Bell's subsequent relationships with women follow the same pattern. Throughout his relationship with ex-partner Diane Bishop, he has been continually forced to question his self-worth. His reluctance to pursue a legal battle to see his five year old son owes more to having to face her than the possibility of losing. Her constant belittling of him means that any encounter with her will make him feel so inadequate, he won't take her to court. She has emasculated him and therefore prevented him forging other relationships with women. Catherine, however, plays on his low self-esteem to get him to sleep with her. When it comes to men, however, Alan is far less easy to manipulate, firmly standing his ground when he sees women being treated badly.