The Unfolding: A.M. Homes

After reading a tantalising review I was very keen to read this but came out the other end disappointed. I hated being around a bunch of racist white american blokes paving the way for Trump and god knows what else. I guess they epitomised the inward looking, conservative, self serving dewy eyed view of the USA. But it was Meghan who really got on my wick! Eighteen but with the worldview and brain of a ten year old. No doubt destined to be president one day.

All her books are amazing and completely different, if you love her writing you’ll love this, highly recommend

The Unfolding is a frightening read. It concerns one family in the United States as the man of the family, called The Big Guy, reacts to the Democratic election win of 2008, when Obama beat McCain. McCain responds graciously and congratulates Obama on his victory, but for the Big Guy and his like-minded associates, the win is an appalling event, and they make a plan to reclaim America. The Big Guy’s daughter Meghan is voting for the first time, and examining her values and attitudes. The Big Guy is sure of his plan to disrupt society and perhaps even “accidentally burn the house down.”I found this book scarily believable and quite unsettling to read. There are some awful viewpoints and attitudes both implied and directly stated. Homes really does deconstruct the events from 2008 onwards.Besides this The Big Guy’s wife is drinking way too much, and the reasons for her drinking slowly and shockingly become clear. I found the family conversations devastatingly powerfully written.All in all, a powerful examination of modern America. As someone says in the novel, the dignified response of McCain to the result of the election when he loses to Obama seems to belong to another century.

‘The news has hit the room like death.’ - ‘The Unfolding’ by A. M. Homes.This dark political comedy-drama opens in the early hours of 5 November, 2008 as o group of wealthy Republican businessmen gather in a Phoenix hotel bar to anguish over the results of the Presidential Election.Among them is the Big Guy, an important contributor to the GOP: a man who loves his family, money and democracy. During the period between the election and Barack Obama’s January 2009 inauguration the Big Guy formulates a plan to ‘take back America’ recruiting a group of likeminded men to his conspiracy.This is undoubtedly a sinister premise, though Homes doesn’t portray the Big Guy as an over the top baddie. As the conspiracy develops there are definite echoes with how bipartisan politics in the United States has developed in the 21st Century with an emphasis upon the use of disinformation to create confusion and uncertainty.The novel also follows his wife, Charlotte, as she deals with her dissatisfaction through self-medication and their eighteen-year-old daughter, Meghan, as she comes-of-age and needs to navigate between her father’s expectations and her own dreams for the future.Overall, I found ‘The Unfolding’ a fascinating novel both in terms of the personal journeys that its three protagonists undertake as well as its political themes. I also enjoyed the snippets of historical facts that Homes scatters throughout the narrative.

A word of warning: one of the main characters here is referred to only as "the Big Guy" throughout. This frankly takes quite a bit of getting used to, but somehow it is possible And it's well worth doing so, for if you can, at the end of the day, this is another fine novel from one of the best American authors.It's November 2008 and Barack Obama has just soundly beaten Senator John McCain in the race to the White House. The Big Guy (you see? I know!) is very unhappy about this. He is a rich, ageing conservative and soon begins consulting some of his friends who have similar inclinations as to the best possible response to these events. But what exactly do they intend to do?As others have noticed, this is definitely quite a political book. Homes' last novel featured a character who was obsessed with Richard Nixon a lot and this one features cameo appearances from the defeated McCain as well as from presidents Bush and Obama. I enjoyed the political side of the book, but rest assured, there's lots of other good stuff here too as the Big Guy finds time to reassess his relationships with Charlotte, his troubled, alcoholic wife and with their intelligent, thoughtful daughter, Megan.