Published 29th April 2021 by 4th Estate.
From the cover of the book:
When an Antarctic research expedition goes wrong, the consequences are far-reaching – for the men involved and for their families back home.Robert "Doc" Wright, a veteran of Antarctic field work, holds the clues to what happened, but he is no longer able to communicate them. While Anna, his wife, navigates the sharp contours of her new life as a carer, Robert is forced to learn a whole new way to be in the world.
Award-winning novelist Jon McGregor returns with a stunning novel that mesmerizingly and tenderly unpicks the notion of heroism and explores the indomitable human impulse to tell our stories – even when words fail us. A meditation on the line between sacrifice and selfishness this is a story of the undervalued, unrecognised courage it can take just to get through the day.
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Robert 'Doc' Wright is a man at home among the frozen wastes of Antarctica, and the years he has spent involved in research projects here have formed a deep love in his heart for this remote landscape that does not bear close comparison with the feelings he holds for his wife and family back home in Britain.
This year, Doc is on the ice with two young Antarctic virgins who very keen to get everything right, something which often puts them at odds with Doc's more relaxed attitude to some of the procedures instilled in them as vital during their training. Doc seems to know his stuff though, and he is the veteran here after all, so they soon fall into his way of doing things. But when a sudden storm hits while they are out on the ice, events take a very dangerous turn for the three men, and the consequences are deadly. Doc holds the key for what went wrong, but what happened that day means that he is unable to tell anyone his side of the story.
Lean Fall Stand is the kind of novel that takes you in a very surprising direction - and an emotionally charged one at that. What begins as a tale about an Antarctic expedition that goes wrong, entitled Lean, changes abruptly, with the second part of the book Fall, into a story of one man's fight to learn how to deal with the huge changes that have been forced upon him and his family by events that took place out on the ice - events that he is not able to communicate the truth about.
Fall is told entirely from the perspective of Doc's wife Anna, a respected academic in her own right, from the point she receives a phone call telling her he has been injured and she needs to get to Chile as soon as possible. This is where the novel really hits hard, as we follow Anna as she is expected to play the part of devoted wife at Doc's side on his road to recovery, even though there has been a distance between them for many years that is not just geographical, and McGregor holds nothing back about the toll this takes on the couple, and their children.
The final part of the novel Stand, brings us to the point where Doc finds a way to recover something of the man he used to be... leading intriguingly into some clarity about the events of the fateful day in Antarctica.
The abrupt change of pace and context between parts one and two of the novel certainly hit me for six, and I found it rather disorienting in much the same way that life changes for Doc and his family which, if intentional, is genius. Suddenly you find yourself in a very different sort of story exposing the real nitty gritty of what it is like to not only find yourself incapacitated, but also how this impacts on the friends and family around you. In keeping with Doc's inability to communicate, this part of the tale is told cleverly through the eyes of Anna, allowing us to understand exactly how the change in the course of their, normally quite separate, lives is not something she felt she signed up for.
There are parts of this novel where I felt a bit like I was lost on the ice as McGregor plays up the mystery side of the story, with the truth about what happened that fateful day always out of focus in the whiteout - for me the pieces did not completely fall into place, even with the insight of Doc's recall of events at the conclusion. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the way he explores the concept of isolation throughout the novel so well - the isolation of a remote landscape; the emotional isolation of a couple unable to connect with each other; and the isolation of someone unable to communicate with the people around them - and his use of language to convey aphasic speech is brilliant.
In addition, there is no doubt that this is a masterful depiction of the reality of someone struggling to cope with the recovery from profound injuries, and the repercussions that it has on the people around them. McGregor paints an authentic picture of the obvious frustration Doc feels at the changes in his circumstances, but for me, it is the way he shows Anna's true feelings of desperation, guilt, anger and the realisation that she has also lost the life she once enjoyed in becoming his carer that is where the power of this story lies. It was refreshing and moving to read a novel that really addresses the darker feelings of the family, which are normally unacknowledged.
I must admit that I am still not quite sure what to make of this novel, despite the beautifully written insight into the lives of Doc, Anna, their children and the people they meet along the way, but it has given me a lot to reflect upon, which I think makes it rather interesting. I would perhaps, advise some caution if you are currently bearing up under similar circumstances, but there is a lot to take from this novel that is helpful, reassuring and even uplifting - and that can only be a good thing in my view.
Lean Fall Stand is available to pre-order from your favourite book retailer and will be released in e-book and hardcover formats.
Thank you to Matt Clacher of 4th Estate for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review.
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