Life, Slightly, by Nigel Jay Cooper

Characters

Four key characters exist in this spellbinding story – Jackie, Gavin, Steve, and Imogen.

Jackie is a peculiar woman who constantly battles with the voice in her head. While she seems harmless enough at first glance, there is a sense of mystery about her character, as if she is hiding something. While she cares deeply about other people, she often goes about showing it the wrong way, stalking strangers who she sees in distress, thinking of them as her friends and wanting to help fix their problems. In general, Jackie seemed like a lonely woman, possessing an air of sadness about her, but also a strong sense of life and innocence. She does her best to keep people out – emotionally-speaking – to stop them from being able to see the real her, crippled by painful memories and a lingering sense of sadness.

In contrast, Gavin seemed to be a more self-centred character, always choosing decisions that benefitted him. As a young man, we learn about his reluctance to admit to his homosexual feelings, going to great lengths to prove to his peers that he is straight. We see him make many mistakes, hurting those closest to him in an effort to find some semblance of happiness in his life. Overall, Gavin was a good father and a kind man at heart. However, we constantly see him struggling with his own inner-demons, refusing to accept his own personal truth and allowing others to suffer because of this.

Next, we come to Steve, Gavin’s first love. Steve is a laid back and optimistic sort of man. Even when he was young, living with an alcoholic mother and essentially raising himself, he exuded a particular sense of calm. In addition, he was a smart, playful and perceptive man, always doing what he could to make those around him comfortable, and seeing into others in a profound way. I found myself admiring Steve’s courage and resolve, how he always knew who he was and refused to shy away from it.

Finally, we have Imogen, Gavin’s wife. At first, Imogen is introduced to us as a happy university student, so full of life and hope. However, over time, this sense of vitality seemed to gradually fade away, a once loving woman replaced by a cold and somewhat controlling individual, a likeness to Imogen’s own mother. While I could understand how Imogen came to change in such a drastic way over time, I also often felt she was being unfair to Gavin and therefore found it difficult to warm to her at any point. Overall, I simply did not like her as a character.