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Mackerel Sky: A Novel
A novel of criminal intrigue, eccentric love and the power of women.
After a twenty-year absence, Guy Vidoq is returning home to meet his daughter for the first time. He discovers his mercurial daughter, Isabelle, has been raised in a bizzarre, cloistered environment by her libertine mother, Martine, who is now living with a young man, Harry, roughly the age of their daughter. If the intense, closed and sensual relationship of these three housemates wasn't bad enough, Guy soon discovers that the entire household is deeply enmeshed in a counterfeiting operation that produces fake American currency for the black market.
Extraordinarily intelligent, though volatile, Martine soon becomes the obsession of Guy, turning his world upside down. As they begin to rekindle their relationship, tension in the house rises. And when the counterfeiting operation begins to break down, everyone finds themselves in desperate situations as they are each drawn closer to the criminal underworld.
Compared to Milan Kundera, Leonard Cohen and Barbara Gowdy, Natalee Caple constructs an exquisite portrayal of the human psyche with a daring, provocative style. Reminiscent of crime films from the French New Wave, Mackerel Sky is a dark, thrilling novel about seduction, the intricate, often destructive relationship between parent and child, and the impulses of the heart.
After a twenty-year absence, Guy Vidoq is returning home to meet his daughter for the first time. He discovers his mercurial daughter, Isabelle, has been raised in a bizzarre, cloistered environment by her libertine mother, Martine, who is now living with a young man, Harry, roughly the age of their daughter. If the intense, closed and sensual relationship of these three housemates wasn't bad enough, Guy soon discovers that the entire household is deeply enmeshed in a counterfeiting operation that produces fake American currency for the black market.
Extraordinarily intelligent, though volatile, Martine soon becomes the obsession of Guy, turning his world upside down. As they begin to rekindle their relationship, tension in the house rises. And when the counterfeiting operation begins to break down, everyone finds themselves in desperate situations as they are each drawn closer to the criminal underworld.
Compared to Milan Kundera, Leonard Cohen and Barbara Gowdy, Natalee Caple constructs an exquisite portrayal of the human psyche with a daring, provocative style. Reminiscent of crime films from the French New Wave, Mackerel Sky is a dark, thrilling novel about seduction, the intricate, often destructive relationship between parent and child, and the impulses of the heart.
- GenresFiction
272 pages, Hardcover
First published February 21, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 9, 2008
Martine might be the most original female character in English literature. For her alone, this book is worth reading. But there's much more. Be prepared to be surprised.
February 27, 2015
"Don't you ever think that it might be nice to fall in love with one person for your whole life? It might be nice to be someone's only love, someone's only lover. If that part of your brain could be filled with one face than you'd never have to compare it to any other face. You'd always know, walking and talking and sleeping and eating, whose eyes and nose and mouth you'll see when you turn your head."
May 25, 2012
A great story dealing with the complicated nature of human relations (and a hint of criminality)
Page 35
The next day Guy and Belle, Sally and Martine all ransack Guy's house looking for hidden money. Guy is in charge of turning his father's drawers over on the bed and looking underneath for taped bills. Martine is in the closet, searching in his shoes and rummagin through shoeboxes of cards and photographs. Sally and Belle are downstairs, turning over chairs and tapping the floorboards with their feet.
"Guy," Martine calls, "are you done with the drawers?"
He turns over the last drawer and his father;s balled socks tumble onto the bed in black and white disarray. He scans the bare wood.
"Yes."
"Then come and help me."
Guy walks over to the closet and peers in. Martine sits crosslegged on the floor with a pile of photos on her lap. Guy sees a photo of himself in her hand.
"Don't look at those," he says "Those are ours."
"I was there when that picture was taken. It was at a picnic by the lake last year. Mom took the picture."
"I don't look like that anymore. Put it away. Did you find money?"
Martine puts the photo back in the pile and begins to scop them all back into the box. "No," she sighs. "He knew he was leaving. We'll only find money if he forgot it. You look in his suit pockets."
Guy steps into the closet and stares up at his father's brown and black suits on their hangers. "He didn't take any of his clothes because he's coming back."
"Maybe he is. Just look, Guy."
"He didn't hide any money because he's gone to get the money and bring it back. He's has a bank account in London. He went there and he's coming back with lots of money. He said I could go to London with him sometime, and he would teach me how to drive on the wrong side of the road."
"You're too small to drive."
He opens the front suit jacket and stares at the lining. Bright silk shines under the light of the overhead bulb. He runs his hand over the slippery fabric. He gropes the pockets and finds them empty. On impulse he tugs the jacket off the hanger and pulls himself inside it. His father;s suit jacket surrounds him, smelling warm and sick like his father, weighing down his arms and shoulders and the small naked nape of his neck."
Page 35
The next day Guy and Belle, Sally and Martine all ransack Guy's house looking for hidden money. Guy is in charge of turning his father's drawers over on the bed and looking underneath for taped bills. Martine is in the closet, searching in his shoes and rummagin through shoeboxes of cards and photographs. Sally and Belle are downstairs, turning over chairs and tapping the floorboards with their feet.
"Guy," Martine calls, "are you done with the drawers?"
He turns over the last drawer and his father;s balled socks tumble onto the bed in black and white disarray. He scans the bare wood.
"Yes."
"Then come and help me."
Guy walks over to the closet and peers in. Martine sits crosslegged on the floor with a pile of photos on her lap. Guy sees a photo of himself in her hand.
"Don't look at those," he says "Those are ours."
"I was there when that picture was taken. It was at a picnic by the lake last year. Mom took the picture."
"I don't look like that anymore. Put it away. Did you find money?"
Martine puts the photo back in the pile and begins to scop them all back into the box. "No," she sighs. "He knew he was leaving. We'll only find money if he forgot it. You look in his suit pockets."
Guy steps into the closet and stares up at his father's brown and black suits on their hangers. "He didn't take any of his clothes because he's coming back."
"Maybe he is. Just look, Guy."
"He didn't hide any money because he's gone to get the money and bring it back. He's has a bank account in London. He went there and he's coming back with lots of money. He said I could go to London with him sometime, and he would teach me how to drive on the wrong side of the road."
"You're too small to drive."
He opens the front suit jacket and stares at the lining. Bright silk shines under the light of the overhead bulb. He runs his hand over the slippery fabric. He gropes the pockets and finds them empty. On impulse he tugs the jacket off the hanger and pulls himself inside it. His father;s suit jacket surrounds him, smelling warm and sick like his father, weighing down his arms and shoulders and the small naked nape of his neck."
March 8, 2008
I love Nataleee Caple's work, but this book didn't cut it for me. This novel is more plot-driven than 'Plight of Happy People in an Ordinary World." It's about a woman, and her daughter, who run a counterfeiting operation out of small town in Canada. It's slow-moving in the beginning, but then the action picks up about a quarter of the way through. When it was finished, I just didn't feel anything for the characters.
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September 9, 2007This was one of the most strangest books I have ever read. I still can't quite figure out if I liked it or not. I thought the story in itself was quite ridiculous, but yet, it was written so well that I couldn't put it down and ended up reading it in a weekend.
May 16, 2013
The first part of daughter-father conversation was somehow funny while the sensual parts were a bit awkwardly funny and crazy. The story started calm and flowing. The last part grew intense but ended not to good for me but was okay.
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July 6, 2011This was a quick little read, kind of a strange book, but I enjoyed it. I will save it for you Christy.
December 28, 2012
An interesting romp of a read. I could not help but think this would make an amazing Coen brothers film. Funny, sad, tragic, quirky, with a little of that criminal element in it!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews