This beautiful and idea-filled novel is so daring in its choice of subjects and scenes that one is stunned by its cumulative effect. In what may seem at first to be an unlikely or inappropriate juxtaposition, the author contrasts the horrors of the Holocaust with the pastoral, and seemingly simple life among the Masai in Kenya. This never feels demeaning, insensitive, or inappropriate, however. By developing both these subjects, Cartwright is able to illustrate in unique and imaginative ways the wider universal issue of ethnicity as a factor in the search for justice, love, and a Universal Spirit.

On the surface this the story of journalist Tim Curtiz's search for the truth about Claudia Cohn-Casson, a French Jewish researcher of the Masai, who was betrayed to the Nazis when she returned home in the final days of World War II. Curtiz is planning to write a screenplay for an "Out of Africa"-type film to be shot in Kenya, and in his attempt to understand the "real" Claudia, he interviews both an elderly British ex-patriate, Tom Fairfax, who was Claudia's lover, and the elderly laibon of the Masai community which Claudia studied. Both men suffered great losses as a result of their contact with Claudia, something with which Tim Curtiz, also suffering a loss, can identify.

As the narrative unfolds, it seems intentionally to follow the hypnotic, circular dancing patterns of the Masai as it twists, leaps, and turns back upon itself, while gathering in the details of Claudia's life, the mystery of her disappearance, and the complications in the lives of the subordinate characters. The elasticity of Cartwright's prose is perfectly suited to this style, as he varies his sentence lengths to control the overall pace and moves from positively lyrical descriptions of the African savannah to turgidly doom-filled passages describing the cattle cars transporting Jews to the camps.

Award-winning author Cartwright deserves to have this excellent novel reprinted for U.S. distribution. Until that happens, however, interested readers might want to check it out at Amazon's site in the U.K., where it is readily available. END

The author tries to get away with as little effort as possible. The story has no original plot or thougt, but are made up of stereotypical and rather stale characters that we all have met before in popular fiction and TV-dramas. His story and characters lack believeability and origiality (of course he made it in marketing - but decided to leave it because it was too shallow; of course she was a cheerlead - all his female encounters were the most disirable, etc., etc.) His description of Michigan and America shows many similarities to an exchangestudent's fond rendition of a youthfull encounter with America - not a deep understanding of the country. I am left with the feeling that the author had a basic idea for the book, took a two weeks trip to the United States, and filled in the blanks from what he observed. This renders the book without a proper framework to build a good story.

Dan Silas is an successful English whom spent some of his golden and wild teenage years in Michigan attending high school. After 30 years he was invited back to deliver a reunion speech. On his journey back, he began to recollect his disremembered past.Everything seem too obscure now. He sort of 'lost' contact with everyone including his first love Gloria. However he kept remembering about a special incident involving Gloria in Thomas Jefferson's bed which occured during a faithful field trip.

A good attempt by Justin Cartwright. This novel is rather appealing but somewhat dark.An intriguing plot which conspire readers to be curious of what happen next? How's his reunion goes? Did he meet Gloria again? What did he missed out all these years?

Leading the Cheers is a quick and entertaining read which manages to cover a lot of bases. Underlying the plotline is the revelation that we view the world through only one set of eyes - that our subjective picture of reality might be little more than a self-serving illusion.

Reviews praise the book as "hilarious" and "funny", whereas I'd probably say "amusing" or "ironic". Cartwright has an intelligent and sharp sense of humor, but it is definitely of drier/more ironic nature than is implied by these descriptions; this was not a book that made me laugh.

That said, this was a lively and compelling novel with interesting, well-developed characters and a good mix between plot and introspection. The storyline involves a successful British ad executive's return to Michigan, his childhood home, to attend his high school reunion. Although he has never questioned his interpretation of the events of his youth he suddenly finds himself faced with a number of questions. Things aren't always as they seem. Along the way we get some sharp insights on middle-American culture, Indian rituals, and the meaning of "success" and "failure".

A quirky cast of characters includes a lanky descendant of Northern European immigrants who following his nervous breakdown during his freshman year at Harvard channels the spirit of a long dead Native American called Pale Eagle; a serial killer serving a life sentence; and a group of former high school cheerleaders and jocks facing middle age stranded in their small-town environment.

Other reviewers have pointed out some factual inconsistencies, which I honestly would not have noticed. Regardless, I enjoyed Cartwright's eye for detail and well-crafted descriptions. A thought-provoking and original novel.