D by Michel Faber

Penguin Doubleday (2020) £16.99 hardback

A Review by Cynthia Rogerson

Essentially, D is a road story.  Like most road stories, there’s a quest.  Thirteen-year-old Dhikilo - along with Mrs Robinson the huge Labrador who is also sometimes a huge cat with a woman’s face - sets out to save a world from which all the D’s are disappearing.  A world without D’s is a world without diversity.  Her quest drives the story, but it’s what happens to her along the way that’s most interesting. And this is where Faber’s magic enters, for above all he is a master of whimsical creatures. Fans of The Book of Strange New Things will be delighted to meet the Droods, who are as quirky and lovable as the Oasans, while being distinctly different in appearance and culture.  In addition, to mention a few others, there are the scary Magwitches and Quilps, the narrowminded Spottletoes and the evil Gamp.  And they all live in a world that, despite being permanently winter, you might recognise.

Dhikilo - born in Somaliland, adopted by an English couple - is not your stereotypical adolescent. Like Faber’s refusal to write easily categorised books, Dhiklio does not fit easily into a box marked teenage girl. She’s serious, kind, lonely, and often bewildered but stoical about life as the only Somaliland citizen in town. She understands she’s fundamentally different and therefore friendless, but also accepts that in some ways she’s lucky. She seems incapable of self-pity. That is, until she finds herself frozen and starving on her quest to rescue the missing D’s. How she responds to obstacles and privations is what the book pivots on.  Meanwhile, the voice of her only true human friend, ancient and bumbling Professor Dodderfield, threads through the book. It is his observations that I find most memorable. Even the asides are great: ‘Don’t be sad on an unslept brain, it stops the memories settling where they should.’

There’s danger and darkness in abundance, but D oozes charm and warmth. It’s a feel-good book without the sentimentality normally associated with feel-good books.  Faber takes the reader (of any age) gently by the hand and leads them through experiences which - though at times horrifying - never seem wholly hopeless.  If Faber’s books have anything in common, it is this narrative voice – starkly honest but always reassuring.

This is Faber’s seventh novel, three of which have been made into major feature films and drama series. His short fiction, Some Rain Must Fall in particular, is the subject of doctorates. By any measure he is a hugely respected author, but his work has always defied the usual categories of literature. They don’t even resemble each other - and never so much as with this book. D is a lovely tale to give a 12 year old or read to a six year old, especially if they like C.S.Lewis’s Narnia stories. In America it’s marketed as a children’s book, but not in Britain, because it’s also an astute political satire for adults about shifting societal values, as metaphorically clever as Animal Farm. It’s a fantasy novel for fantasy fans, and science fiction for sci fi fans. Last but not least, D is also an homage to Charles Dickens, with imbedded allusions to his characters and place names.

My advice is to not worry about what kind of book D is, or whether it’s your cup of tea. Just read it. It’s a short book, which you’ll want to read very slowly to make it last.