The Uneasy by Andrew Hook (Chapbook #8, Eibonvale Press) marries the erotica of Anis Nin with the surrealism of Louis Aragon's novel Paris Peasant. Do not worry too much as Hook uses neither the cut-up technique of William Burroughs nor the automatism of James Joyce. Hook slowly adds surreal imagery through the narrative, which provides an ending that could be real or could just be in the heroines’ mind...

We follow British expatriate Imogen, as she moves to Paris to work in a perfumery. Escaping from the suffocation of her English group of friends she strives to reinvent herself while at the same time reinventing and morphing Paris to fit her idealised version of it. As part of her journey of discovery, she undergoes a sexual revelation matching her erotism with that of Paris.

As a narrative, it is more of a character study. We mostly spend time with Imogen as she discovers herself and Paris. The story becomes increasingly surreal, blurring the edge between her imagination and reality.

It's an interesting tale, but quite unlike most of Hook's previous work.

8

Charles Packer