The Stately Pantheon by Kirsty Neary

 

This is Kirsty Neary’s first novel, and it’s an odd one. The plot of The Stately Pantheon is focused around an old Glasgow theatre (similar to The Panopticon) where a group of disparate individuals come and go. Initially, the overwritten prose is a massive distraction, but oddly, this improves as the book goes on, becoming more economical once there’s more to tell. The plot mainly concerns the odd and somewhat mystical Polly, who runs the theatre. However, she’s not particularly fleshed out, and comes over as vague rather than mysterious. Not to worry though, because the book increasingly concerns itself with two rather more realistic characters; Carrie, who stands to inherit the theatre and Evan, a new usher who later becomes a barman. These two are not mysterious, or vague, and all the better for it. The book has a good command of third person narrative, shuffling between characters nicely and always moving the plot forward convincingly. And as the story moves away from unclear fantasy and becomes something of a love story it develops into a much better tale too, and what at first was a little annoying becomes something more like enchanting. Well worth a look. [Nat Smith]