My rating: 5 of 5 stars
In Each Peach Pear Plum, Allan Ahlberg explores the darkest realms of fantasy, describing in ultra-minimalist style the dichotomy between good and evil. Allan’s repetitive text wastes no words; this is espionage literature with the gripping narrative of Forsyth and Ludlum, written with sinister style of Le Carré and Greene. Characters are spotted, but only rarely are we given a glimpse of their fate – we know that Jack and Jill will fall down the hill, but it will happen off-screen, and in our imagination, a la Janet Leigh in the Psycho shower scene.
In a clear reference to the Cold War, the Bears – a metaphor for the Soviet Union – are always there in the background, and Janet Ahlberg’s illustration of the Wicked Witch could not resemble Margaret Thatcher more clearly if it were a photograph. The ditch in which Jack and Jill lie – and into which the Wicked Witch is peering, is surely modelled on the Berlin Wall, while in the very next picture, Robin Hood is shown firing long-range missiles at the Witch. Finally, there seems to be a sub-plot involving the Russian Bears and a “Sleeper” – codename “Baby Bunting”.
The novel works up to a sinister climax: Plum Pie awaits everyone. How much Polonium 210 is present?
View all my reviews