Simon Fay’s BULK

Having a read of Simon Fay’s novel BULK. It’s a larger-than-life story of a female body builder Barbara Dunne, and her resolutely obese taxi-driver husband Stu. It gradually dawned on me (maybe other readers will spot it earlier) that Barbara is a control freak who is paranoid that her husband is cheating on her. She tries to thwart his dieting efforts, fearful that he is slimming down to be more attractive to his supposed lover. She resents his closeness to an old buddy Todd – this Todd is an aging artless bachelor with embellished or imaginary stories about his string of lovers.
All the main characters are a touch grotesque – like something from a Botero painting sprung to life. They are all firmly in the world, oozing their personalities, as well as sweat, farts, belches, and politically incorrect opinions.

Barbara runs a gym and for years focussed her determination on her body, competing in the very niche sport of female body-building. Now she is easing off the strict training, and it seems her obsessive nature is latching on to other things. She’s a very unusual main character in a novel, and makes for an intense narrator. The way Barbara attempts to influence her rival’s 7-year-old daughter is both very domestic and creepily sinister.

Best of luck to Simon in his writing – this one is avilable on Amazon or through his website.