Megan
Abbott’s second noir novel, The Song is
You (2007), though set in 1950s Hollywood, is topical in light of the
#MeToo furore.
Based
on the real-life disappearance of actress Jean Spangler, this novel peels off some
of the gloss from Tinseltown. Spin doctor Gil ‘Hop’ Hopkins, former reporter,
is tasked with running interference for the movie stars, ensuring that no mud
sticks, that scandal stays buried. He’s pretty good at what he does, turning a
blind eye to debauchery and traumatised starlets.
There
are a number of appropriate name-drops from that period.
On the
night when Jean went missing, Hop had been among the crowd she was with, and
now he has to retrace the steps of a male double act in order to
muddy the water and inter memories. Drugs, sex, and violence – it’s all here,
though not too graphic. The few clues from the real case are inserted in the
story, with convincing explanations. The real mobster Dave Ogul of the time
also features.
While
covering tracks, Hop becomes entangled with girl reporter Frannie Adair who’s
also on the case. ‘She had been easy for Hop to spot, the sole pair of heels
and the only ass worth a glance in the sweeping room full of sweat-stained
unshaven ginks. … all ginger curls and round cheeks, like three months off the
farm, until she spoke. Twitching her freckled nose, she shot back at him, “What’s
it like going over to enemy lines, turning stooge for the plastic factory?”
She
didn’t take prisoners, it seems: “I hear you’ve done more white-washing than
Tom Sawyer.” (p47)
Besides
wit and one-liners, Abbott delivers an atmospheric hard-boiled tale. Despite his
less than savoury character, you’re drawn to Hop, a flawed man who wanted to be
good, but that didn’t pay enough. We’re with him as he turns over stones and
sees what crawls out from under; even when he stumbles upon a corpse, ‘Hop felt his
body rise out of his skin, hover there a second, and then thud back down to
earth.’
If noir
fiction is your thing, then The Song is
You is worth your while.
In the
real world, the case of Jean Spangler remained unsolved; in the novel Hop gets to
a solution.
Editorial comment
The
sparse number of chapter headings seems odd.
Over-use
of the word ‘something’. On pages 190-191 it appears 7 times; it crops up a lot
elsewhere, too. Something to think about, anyway.
