Book review: Crocodile, by Daniel Shand

A kind critic would describe Daniel Shand’s second novel as “something of a curate’s egg”; another might say “a dog’s dinner”. It is a novel which is ethically interesting and aesthetically all over the place. The central character is usually referred to as “the girl” but we learn, at four points, that her name is Chloe. That is an interesting choice, since Chloe was one of the epithets of the Greek goddess Demeter when she was “verdant” or “blossoming”. Chloe is about to go to the big school; is discovering boys and alcohol and pornography for the first time; and has been sent to stay with her grandparents because of her mother’s chaotic life, which involves men and alcohol and sexual violence.