Everything I know about writing, I learned from this magical woman. Leone Ross is a writer, lecturer and to be honest, a presence to be reckoned with - and to this day, I am grateful that I got to study with her at university for a few short years.
But enough of my gushing emotions. We're here to talk about This One Sky Day, the latest novel from Leone, published by Faber in April 2021 - so yes, I was lucky enough to swindle a proof copy from the publisher. Hugs and kisses to them.
You might already know some of Leone's writing, or perhaps you've come across her after she published a short story collection in 2017, Come Let Us Sing Anyway, with Peepal Tree Press - but if not, welcome. You are among friends.
This new novel was, according to The Bookseller at least, 15 years in the making, and takes readers on a dazzling journey to Popisho, a land where everything is bursting with colour and magic; where food is as important as life; and where we follow Xavier and many other wonderful and colourful characters through one fateful day.
Under a pink sky
When I close my eyes and think about This One Sky Day, I immediately see colour. Leone creates a world where sensations are everything. Touch, smell, taste, hearing and sight are so important to the story - and she is so good at bringing her world to life - that I felt as if I was living through it. I tasted the food that the macaneus, Xavier, cooks individually for every living soul in Popisho, once in their lifetime; I felt the desperate touch of a rejected lover trying to win back their partner; I was there when a couple broke open and licked, sucked, devoured a fresh mango, peeling the skin off with their teeth.
In Popisho, everyone is born with some kind of magical power (or cors), be it healing, growing wings on your back, or being an unbelievably good shag. (Yes, there is good reason why the novel is being described as 'sensual'.) Everyone loves argument. The land is kept prosperous by the sale of exquisite toys to foreign - "big yellow toy chests, stuffed with knitted mice and parrots, with creaky hinges that made her laugh and sandalwood smells that made her sneeze ... Wooden alphabets, each letter so elaborate, she could call them nothing but jewellery ... little tables and chairs in the shape of animals: not cats or dogs, but goats and wasps and one she'd never seen before...".
The writing is strong, clear, distinctive, consistent throughout. It is visual and gripping. Tastes illustrated with memories, pain with action. Words that I might not understand, phrases I'm not familiar with at first become clear quickly. I take it in my stride, busy being carried away by the story. It's an enchanting world, and in the middle of it all sits love.
"In her chest cavity, she'd stuffed a white, fat cloud"
No one writes love, or breaks hearts with words like Leone does. "In the damp of his neck, where she'd been so many times, she caught the new love ... Xavier tried to hold her, horrified at her eyes, but she tumbled to her feet, lurched across the yard, body in rictus, backbone unhinging, her hearts exploding." On this one sky day (if I may), loves will break and mend; things will be revealed that couldn't remain hidden anymore. In Popisho, even secrets are manifestations that can attach themselves to you and weigh you down.
There is so much hidden pain and liberation as we go along; heartbreak - "and here Zebediah sighed so deeply, Xavier wondered if he'd ever been loved as hard as this man loved" - and joy and misunderstanding.
The day is up-and-down, messy like a fever dream. People collide and ricochet away from each other; make plans and then break them. But somehow we always know where we're heading, which makes it clear that we aren't lost, not even for a second. Leone know exactly where she wants to go, and she's holding us firmly by the hand throughout the day.
"This was going to be so much fun"
I can't recount all the magic and wonder that Popisho is - half the pleasure is discovering it for yourself. But I can say that everything moves, changes, crests and falls like waves. It is complicated and beautiful.
For those who forget how to love; for those who love to explore new worlds; for those after the next greatest contemporary writer; for those after literary fiction. Really, for anyone. This book is perfect. My advice? Keep your heart and mind open as you pick up this book. There is strangeness to be reckoned with - but the kind worth opening your heart and mind for.
And savour the words, don't rush them. You'll be sorry afterwards.
