Memory of a book

Years ago, upon a recommendation from the New York Times review of books, I picked up a copy of the novel "Audrey Hepburn's Neck" by Alan Brown. It's still on my book shelf. I read it only once but it often haunts me with a fond nostalgia. I liked it because the main character is a Manga Comic artist in Japan. For most people, that would put it immediately out of the scope of interest.

But that was only one aspect that drew me, personally, into the story. His father was a veteran of a Japanese War with Korea. And his mother was beset, for as long as he could remember, with a mysterious sadness. The reason for that sadness is a core riddle which unravels slowly as the events in the novel progress. That theme of being raised by a melancholy caregiver is only one of the features of the story with which I can relate. But it's a theme that I have thought more about since the time I first read the book as my memories of my dear sad grandmother have been brought to my mind.

"Audrey Hepburn's Neck", as the title, refers to a memory of the main character who, as a little boy, went to the movies with his mother. She tells him how she loves the long, graceful neck of the actress. And I think there is a glimmer of an association of the movie star's neck with a swan or a crane which, for me, evokes a feeling of longing or bittersweetness.

 I really should read the book again. It was a captivating story, as I recall, that gave a well-observed glimpse of 80s-90s Japan. I couldn't find anything else written by the author. It was his first novel, I believe. And, because he is not Japanese like the main character, I wondered if he cast himself as one of the supporting characters in the book. Sometimes the story behind the story holds as much interest for me as the novel itself.

P.S. After writing the above post, I have read that the book is being made into a movie and is being directed by Alan Brown who has followed up his career as a novelist with that of a film maker/director.

P.S.S. The drawing that accompanies this post is one I made by partially tracing and coloring over an old photo of Audrey.