The Accidental by Ali Smith

The Accidental by Ali Smith is the story of a disintegrating family spending one summer in a holiday house in Norfolk. Each of the four members of the Smart family is isolated in his or her own particular type of silence. Astrid is a lonely twelve-year-old obsessed with filming everything around her. Magnus, sixteen, is consumed with guilt about an unkind act that might have contributed to a classmate’s suicide. Eve, their mother, is a moderately successful author who is supposed to be working on a new book, but instead gets lost in her thoughts all day. And Michael, Eve’s husband, is a literature professor who has the habit of sleeping with his students.

One day, a mysterious woman by the name of Amber arrives to the house, saying her car broke down. She stays with the Smart family for one night, and then another, and then another, and because of her puzzling actions each family member goes through a change.

The Accidental reminded me slightly of Toni Morrison’s Beloved, which I read a little while ago. The books are very different in many ways, but the fragmented, hazy writing style was a little reminiscent of Morrison’s, and there’s also the fact that in both books events are set in motion by the arrival of a mysterious woman.

This novel is divided in three parts (fittingly titled “the beginning”, “the middle” and “the end”), and in each there are four chapters, one told from the perspective of each member of the family. I find that, if done well, the use of multiple perspectives can be an extremely enriching storytelling technique, and that was certainly the case with this book.

I liked how the writing style varied a little in each character’s chapters, helping with characterization. I liked how there were moments of humour intertwined with poignant moments and moments of quiet sadness. I liked how well Ali Smith writes silences – what is not said is just as important as what is said.

I first became interested in Ali Smith when one of her stories was read in a storytelling workshop at my university. Unfortunately I cannot recall the name of the story, but I do remember that in it she toyed with perspective just like in this book. A little while later I came across the book Ali Smith’s Supersonic 70’s, part of the Penguin Pocket 70's collection, and I picked it up.

The book had a few short stories in it, and I enjoyed them all, but one, called “The Theme is Power”, was simply one of the best short stories I’d ever read. It is a love story, and a story about memory and safety and loss. The writing was beautiful, and very different from the very adventurous and fragmented style she used in The Accidental.

I suppose I expected this book to be more like that story, but the fact that it isn’t makes me think that she is a very versatile writer. I think I will need to read more of her work to form an opinion about her.

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