Safe Return Doubtful

British Literature – published 1983

Despite its reissue by Valancourt in 2024, this is a remarkably underappreciated, and, one could argue, still forgotten book. It has just 23 ratings on Goodreads, Wheldon’s other works have less, and yet, at the time of its release it received notable praise, winning the Triple First Award in 1983 and causing William Trevor to say that he remembered the book ‘vividly long after reading it’. It deserves much better.

There is some cumbersome language and repetition, especially early in the book, but that can be largely ironed out by a proof reader, and there are lots of books I read and appreciate that could still do with an edit.

The style the book is written is though, is hugely enjoyable, and there are some wonderful and memorable sentences.

The story begins with Alexander, referred to as A., as Wheldon initially intended to add the full name later, but with A. came a Kafkaesque feel, which he was encouraged to keep. A. is losing his identity it seems, after being released from prison where he served time for writing a dissident book that purported to expose the secrets of the city’s government secrets, such as they were.

Soon though, he faces other, more serious charges and is pursued along a series of abandoned railway tracks, and over the titular viaduct that stands over and dominates the city.

Where A. is going is, like many things in the novel, uncertain. When asked, “Where are you going?” He simply replies, “I’m going on.” Further comparsion to Kafka perhaps, and his short piece The Departure

At the gate he stopped me and asked: “And where are you going ,sir?” “I don’t know,” I said, “away from here, away from here. Only if I keep going away from here, can I reach my destination.”

The reader is left uncertain also as to those who pursue him, just that they are of blunt features and have rehearsed patience, like KGB agents. Hence Wheldon depicts life as a constant search for comfort and assurance, but this desire for security is ultimately unattainable, merely an illusion.

It may have its faults, but I think it’s great.

My GoodReads score 5 / 5