Nalda Said, by Stuart David, is a sorrowful story told by a frightened young man. He was raised by his aunt in a caravan that sat at the bottom of a hill on an unpaved road. She said that his father had been a jewel thief. She said that people who followed summer around the world never grew old. She said that he was hiding a valuable jewel inside him that would arrive someday so that he’d never have to worry again. Nalda said a lot of things.
‘What Nalda used to say, you see about people, I mean was that all but the very few would rip and tear at even the most precious of things to get to that part which would bring them profit and gain.’
Nalda Said is a haunting story told with lovely simplicity and grace. The shy narrator weaves fairy tales from his past into an account of his solitary life as a gardener. His unwavering belief in everything Nalda said is captivating and heart-wrenching.
When the novel begins, the nameless narrator runs away. He is working as a gardener in a city park when he begins to suspect that another employee knows about his secret jewel. Terrified, he escapes to his apartment, snatches up his few belongings, then takes refuge in the first bus he can board. He sits huddled in his seat until he feels safe, then finds a town where he can start over again.
Running away. Starting over. Running away. Starting over. Nalda Said captures the paranoia and the depth of the narrator’s troubled mind.
He finds a new position as a gardener at a hospital. Caretakers Frank and Elizabeth are gentle and patient, and the lonely narrator eventually opens up to them. He enjoys their company and tells them stories about Nalda.
The novel intensifies when the narrator falls in love with a nurse at the hospital. His thoughts become increasingly disturbed when she doesn’t believe his stories about the jewel hidden within him, and his memories of Nalda take on a dark and menacing tone.
Nalda Said can be read as an allegory, with rich meanings embedded in the characters, the dialogue and the troubled mind of the troubled narrator. Through his delicate prose, David comments on social conventions and on art.
David received attention as a musician before he was known as a writer. He was the founding member, lyricist and bass player for the Glaswegian group Belle ‘ Sebastian. He went on to found Looper (www.looper.info), a group that experiments with sound and spoken-word poetry. David’s music and literature are filled with attention to emotion and reveal his intense devotion to humanity.
Nalda Said is a brilliant and thought-provoking story an exquisite read.
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