Boundary Road, Ami Rao
‘Rao is the ultimate literary shape-shifter and to master each genre is frankly mind-blowing.’
Aron and Nora are two young people travelling home from work; Aron after his first day at a new job at a gentleman’s suit shop, Nora after another shift as a maid in a hotel. They are just two strangers who happen to be on the same No. 13 bus. Strangers who notice one another but who sit apart; strangers travelling the same route but experiencing separate journeys. Aron is full of excitement and enthusiasm at his fresh start and happily listens to those fellow travellers who briefly enter his world until a face from the past threatens his new-found peace. Nora too listens in to those around her but is also reflecting on her own life, and challenges old and recent. For a brief window in time, Aron and Nora occupy the same space before going their separate ways. But their worlds collide once more in a dramatic finale.
Having followed Ami Rao’s career from the outset, picking up her latest book is a bit like opening a present and not knowing what surprise is in store, but always being impressed by the discovery and the quality. Indeed, in her four books to date, Rao has moved between genres seamlessly, from the seemingly disparate worlds of sports non-fiction to literary fiction, each time reinventing herself as a writer, each time showcasing an innate gift. It is a hugely impressive and ambitious feat to not only write so broadly and eclectically but to do so with such skill and ease whatever the genre. Most writers stick to, or are pigeonholed, to one genre and do it well, but Rao is the ultimate literary shape-shifter and to master each genre is frankly mind-blowing.
This latest book once again showcases Rao’s literary prowess, notably her ability not just to write characters but to genuinely bring them to life. In her hands, Aron and Nora assume real personality, real humanity, real depth. You can hear their voices as vividly as if you are sat next to them on the bus. Language choices, thoughts, mannerisms are all completely inherent to the characters and the authorial voice is masked as Aron and Nora materialise as two independent genuine individuals.
But just like any bus journey, Rao peoples the book with a kaleidoscope of humanity too, and despite their pithy cameos, this cast of distinct, diverse characters each form fully realised individuals. These briefly formed relationships perfectly capture the transient nature of the journey, all the while building the interior depth of her two leads. Rao’s novel epitomises that universal idea of everyone having their own story, every person on the number 13 bus has their own tale, and whilst we ride alongside them for a moment in time, we get to see this played out. The bus becomes a fascinating microcosm of society, we experience a range of views and insights, a diverse array of people and a gamut of emotions and experiences. It is a place of brief but real human connections, a melting pot and a snapshot of real life. As readers, we inevitably love to hear stories of others, and in capturing the vignettes on the bus, Rao has been able to magnify that even more creating a vibrancy and eclecticism which is so true to life.
At times, I wanted to see a bit more outside of the window as it were, the sights and landmarks of the city as the bus wends its way, but everything Rao does is true to these characters and their realities, so the focus is rightly on the conversations, the thoughts they get wrapped up in, thus the outside world only encroaches as and when Aron and Nora regard it. Again, this serves to reflect Rao’s ability to capture real lived experience, rather than just ticking narrative boxes. We experience the journey through the human eyes of Aron and Nora, their thoughts, their consciousnesses, rather than the author’s, but, of course, the irony is Rao as author is always pulling the strings.
Once again, Rao has shown the enviable knack of taking on a genre and creating something uniquely special, a Victor Frankensteinian ability to conjure not monsters but fully-fleshed, independent human beings, of distilling life’s moments big and small, of matters philosophical, moral and emotional. Is there anything this author can’t write? A Shakespearian retelling, a Gothic modern drama, a rural pastoral, I wouldn’t put anything past her, but in this grounded, gritty inner-city fable, she really excels. Who knows what is next for Ami Rao’s literary career, but whatever it is, it will surely be yet again something unique, meaningful and satisfying.
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