People You Will Never Meet

<p>John Fraser’s latest work of fiction <I>People You Will Never Meet</I> consists of three thematically-linked trajectories. In the first two Palestinians escape to humble even humiliating work in Belgium. They manage to set themselves up as a think-tank above a public dance-hall and their lives divide between the search for a lofty principle and the drinking and music in the floor below. The link between the levels is provided by a fussy garrulous first-person narrator whose own adventures turn out to signify little. There is a party where the upper and lower worlds mingle the protagonist dressed as moths and butterflies. The Palestinians move on – one to a ruined Syria the other to frustration in Europe. The second tale involves a bright country girl seduced by her teacher with aspirations to a powerful career. She seeks speed which does not end well for her. In the final tale the hero aims higher still – a project for the human species. This involves journeying through Eastern Europe and its underground. Its climax is the burning of a stranger's house and a long long wait for a slow train...</p><p><br /> </p>