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(More customer reviews)(4.5 stars) One of the most delightful and original satires I've read in ages, this debut novel pokes fun at every aspect of British society, from government spin-meisters and crass politicians to marriages of convenience, TV interview programs, consumerism, and the belief that many of the world's problems would be solved if only other people were "more like us." This satire is particularly refreshing, however, since the author writes it with a smile on his face, preferring to prick balloons with his witty needling, rather than wield a rapier in a slashing attack.
The absurdity begins on the first page, when mild-mannered and unimaginative Dr. Alfred Jones, a fisheries specialist, receives a letter asking for his participation in a project to introduce Scottish salmon and the sport of salmon fishing into the wadis of the Yemen during the yearly rains. Alfred finds the whole idea ludicrous and ignores the letter, until the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and eventually the prime minister weigh in. The PM's office favors this effort for its "environmental message," the new links it will forge to a Middle Eastern country, and not incidentally, the huge, positive news story that may push stories of Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia off the front page.
Through letters, e-mails, memos, diary entries, newspaper articles, records of the House of Commons, interviews, and even intercepted al-Qaeda e-mail traffic, the story of Alfred's efforts to create a suitable environment for salmon in the mountains of western Yemen unfolds. Gradually, Alfred becomes intrigued with the research possibilities of the project, and his contact with His Excellency Sheikh Muhammad ibn Zaidi bani Tihama, an avid salmon-fisherman who lives part of the year on a Scottish estate, broadens his vision and stimulates his imagination.
Within the framework that includes the salmon project, Alfred's love life (or lack of love life, since his wife lives in Geneva), and the sheikh's broad vision of a more peaceful world achieved through fishing, the author pokes fun at modern life--government officials who take credit for all Alfred's work, foreign policy which reflects the belief that the Middle Eastern poor hate the British because they do not have TV and material benefits, and even a communications expert who proposes a "Voice of Britain" TV channel with a quiz show in which poor Iraqi contestants can win dishwashers. Not even the British army's "Bereavement Management Center" escapes the author's sharp eye.
As Alfred accepts the sheikh's "belief in belief," he grows emotionally, and when the prime minister insists on going to the Yemen for the first release of ten thousand young salmon into the wadi, the scene is set for a grand finale. Filled with timely observations, an entertaining cast of characters, and a unique and well-developed story line (though the conclusion is a bit weak), this novel breaks new ground. There are not many satires that can be called "charming," and there may be even fewer novels about salmon fishing that can completely captivate those of us who have never climbed into a set of waders. n Mary Whipple
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