Alex Kadis's debut novel, Big Nobody, introduces Connie Costa, a music-loving teenager in mid-1970s east London, desperate to escape her controlling Greek Cypriot father. She fantasises about killing him, blaming him for the car accident that killed her mother and younger brothers a year earlier. Her imaginary friends are Marc Bolan and David Bowie, whose posters on her bedroom wall offer solace and snide commentary.
The novel blends humour with darker themes. Connie's father subjects her to public humiliations, such as the School Disco Disaster of 1975 and the Great Cinema Showdown of 1976, for defying his strict rules. Her childhood friend Vas, also Greek, shares her struggles; he displays his growing penis on demand, while others assume he is gay because he reads poetry. Connie's aunts and a sympathetic music teacher try to help, but the patriarchal system limits their influence.
Connie dreams of becoming a session musician but knows her expected fate is an arranged marriage and domesticity. Her blue eyes and fair hair, inherited from her English mother, set her apart. A note listing 'The many things I hate about myself' begins with 'I am nothing'. The narrative reveals the lasting effects of PTSD, as Connie cannot remember her mother's name, though the final image of her mother being driven away by her father is seared in her memory.
On Christmas morning 1975, Connie finds her father in his underpants staring blankly at the garden, but she dismisses his feelings. The story builds to Connie's bid for freedom on 16 September 1977, the day Bolan dies in a car crash. A plot twist adds melodrama, but Connie remains a resilient and touching heroine. The final section leaps forward 30 years, showing her forging a new identity and reconciling with her Cypriot heritage. Kadis, a former music journalist, delivers a debut that sparkles with 70s style and emotional depth.
