Owlish is the story of Professor Q, a
university lecturer in the city of Nevers. He is not a happy man: his wife
refuses intimacy with him, his students protest, then disappear, and he is
visited by sinister authority figures. He takes refuge in a fantasy world and his
life is briefly illuminated by his passion for Aliss, a doll who is introduced
to him by the mysterious Owlish. But as the story progresses, the sanctuary he
has found for their love affair, an abandoned church, is raided, the doll is
destroyed, and his wife Maria reclaims him. In the final pages, it is not the
forces of political repression but Maria and their doctor who seal his fate:
‘Professor Q thought of the sky-blue pills he would no longer have any reason
to take and almost felt like laughing…He was fast asleep, his upper body
collapsed onto the sofa. Maria came to stand over him, regarding his body as
she might a placid lake. The sleeping pill had worked quickly…’
This novel
draws the reader in on many levels. It is suspenseful: can the Prof find a
new life? What will happen to the doll? It is political; there is no attempt to
disguise the parallels between the fictitious island, its communities and
languages, and present-day Hong Kong – in that respect, it’s wonderfully cheeky.
And the language is beautiful – more on that later.
