"Nine minutes to five. Ozone and sea sparkle and carnival licence. This is how it begins"

The Pier Falls is a new short story collection from Mark Haddon. Having already mastered the long form novel with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, amongst others, this is the first test of Haddon's skills with the tricky short story format.

The book itself contains a number of shorts with no discernible thematic or narrative link as such but each story demonstrates the limitless imagination of a writer who transports us from the everyday to the mythical and the extraordinary with equal skill. For the purpose of this review I'll focus on the first story The Pier Falls.

The Pier Falls presents a classic diorama of the traditional British seaside holiday; fish and chips, striped deck chairs and screeching sea gulls; you can almost taste the pink candy floss. This instantly recognisable backdrop is steeped in nostalgia and longing for a simpler time. Reading the story on the Harbour Arm in Margate I looked back at the town and saw the bleached out orange and sun-burnt red colours exactly as they are shown on the vintage deck chair cover of the novel. 

As the story develops its like a seaside View-Master reel; each click reveals more in vivid day-glo 3D. The perfect summer day at the seaside turns into tragedy as the very foundations of the crowded pier begin to crumble. Bolts fly as metal supports tumble into the sea and shards of wood separate screaming families. Haddon doesn't hold back in descriptions of adults and children falling from the pier into the water. The death count builds quickly yet the narrative continues at pace with little respite. Haddon knows exactly how to create heart stopping tension in only a few sentences, you'll be literally holding your breath.

For me The Pier Falls is an allegory not so much for the end of the British holiday but for the end of nostalgia for the past. Its a great read and a monumental introduction to the other stories in the collection. Read them once then start over again for maximum enjoyment.

I bought this particular book in hardback largely due to the individual illustrations that accompany each story. Good on Mark Haddon for making these brilliant line drawings and for including them specifically in this book shop only edition. 

I read this novel in hardback in June 2016 in part in Margate.

The Pier Falls by Mark Haddon, published by Jonathan Cape, 336 pages