Common ground: An exercise in persistence (that doesn't quite pay off)

I wanted to like Common ground, the debut novel by British author, Naomi Ishiguro. She is the daughter of 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature recipient, Kazuo Ishiguro and Booker Prize winner for The remains of the day (later turned into a successful film). Naomi Ishiguro has previously published an acclaimed collection of short stories (that I haven't read), Escape routes.

Common ground | Published March 2021 | Read December 2023

Common ground has friendship, loyalty, exclusion, belonging and prejudice as its central themes, all of interest to me. The author sets these themes against the backdrop of the unlikely friendship between 13 year old lonely bookish outcast, Stan, and 16 year old Traveller and free spirit, Charlie, in a small English town. Their friendship takes a hiatus after Stan sustains a serious injury while hanging out with Charlie, but is later rekindled when they cross paths again in London as young adults.

When Stan first meets Charlie he is struggling with his father's death and his mother's deep grief and inability to cope. Stan changes schools and is mercilessly bullied by the town rich kid and his minions before he connects with cool-kid Charlie, who has his own battles to face as a member of the Traveller community. When the men meet again, it is Stan who has his life worked out, while Charlie is floundering. There were always class, education and race divisions between the two boys but they are more pronounced in adulthood. Stan seems to have overcome his tough beginnings, whereas Charlie is still experiencing discrimination and exclusion.

I was determined to finish the book even though I struggled to read it. I kept hoping it would get better. I did enjoy the friendship between the two boys in the first part of the novel although the bullying Stan endured is a tough read. The childhood friendship is a solid foundation for the later parts of the book although it does seem unbelievable that the two boys would be friends. Stan seems incredibly naïve for a smart kid.

I liked that the author explores the prejudices experienced by Traveller communities in the United Kingdom. It feels like she has worthy intentions and an interesting premise for the novel's central themes. Sadly, the execution lets her down. The book is far too long and the pacing slow. I found the dialogue clunky and inauthentic at times. The novel is bleak and depressing.

I am still wondering what messages the author is trying to convey about friendship and discrimination because of the way these ideas are handled so simplistically. I like books that tackle difficult subjects and I don't need a happy ending to be satisfied, however there could be so much more depth (and hope!) to Common ground.

Rating: ⭐⭐