Book Review: Fonseca by Jessica Francis Kane – a novel of Penelope Fitzgerald’s sojourn in Mexica

In her new book, Jessica Francis Kane takes several months from the life of Penelope Fitzgerald and weaves them into the kind of novel Penelope Fitzgerald might have written herself. As you may recall, Penelope Fitzgerald is the author The Bookshop, which was made into a movie, and Offshore, which won the Booker Prize – and a lot more.

Fonseca charts a time in Fitzgerald’s life when she had two small children and another on the way. She and her husband Desmond were living beyond their means, editing a literary magazine which was yet to make their fortune, and hampered by Desmond’s drinking problem. We’re in that post-war period, the early 1950s, and the war has taken its toll on Desmond, and so the two are keen to make a go of their literary review. But the bank manager has his concerns, and the family is likely to lose their home.

Penelope learns of a couple of elderly women sitting on the proceeds of a silver mine in Mexico, former friends of her late mother’s, when one contacts Fitzgerald with the news that they have nobody to leave their money to. Why doesn’t she send her boy Valpy to stay for a while to see how they get on? It’s a long journey by sea and bus and things are different from what they expect when they arrive.

The women expect an older boy and they don’t expect Fitzgerald to have tagged along. Fitzgerald discovers there are other people hovering, dropping in for evening drinks each night, who hope to get something too. There’s a lot of drinking, and the nights are cold. Penelope sleeps on a couch so her son can have the bed, and there’s no chair with the desk where she hopes to work. Somehow she and Valpy manage to stay three months as Christmas approaches and the weather becomes colder than what they have packed for.

In 1952 November fell on a Sunday, and that afternoon a mother and son stood in front of the Delaney house in Fonseca, Mexico, poised to knock. They had traveled a long way, were quite stunned, mainly from the last leg of their journey through the American South, and now it was late afternoon the day after the day they were supposed to have arrived. The season was warm, and in the square behind them people were wearing calaveras and the air smelled of smoke and marigolds. In the distance and also quite nearby they heard the pop and spray of fireworks. A band was playing in the square, the music brassy and bright, punctuated by shouts. It was all very disconcerting, and even though he didn’t know who or what was behind the door, the boy wanted to go inside. In all his six years, he had never entered a house that did not have someone making or about to make tea. But his mother would not knock.
“This isn’t a holiday,” Valpy said, turning to sit down on the front step. A young woman passed chewing a large sugar calavera with the name Pedro across the forehead. She was sobbing and laughing at the same time.
Penelope sat down next to him. “How can you tell?”
“I’ve never had new clothes for a holiday before.”
“That’s not true. What about your bathing costume last summer?”
He didn’t say anything. They both knew that bathing costumes didn’t count.

Jessica Francis Kane brings to life this quirky household – the tricky old women, the staff who can be difficult to communicate with. Over time, Penelope explores the area, meets people – mostly, but not only, expats – and learns about local customs. Valpy is a bright boy for his age and delightful. There are misunderstandings and superstitions that put a spanner in the works of Penelope’s best intentions.

Apart from the possibility of money, the time away gives Penelope time to consider her marriage, particularly when another potential heir arrives, “the Delaney”, who is charming, adding another strand to the story. You also get the feeling that she might be incubating the stories that will later make her name.

Jessica Francis Kane has obviously done more than simply research Penelope Fitzgerald’s life and the period she spent in Mexico. You get the feeling that she has lived with and loved Fitzgerald’s literature for a long time. Probably no one else could have written this book. I suddenly want to read and reread more by Fitzgerald. Altogether, Fonseca is a brilliant read – clever, well written and with fascinating characters. A five-star read from me.

I received Fonseca as a reader’s copy from Netgally. The book is due to be released on 12 August.