A review by janebranson
Exposure, by Mal Peet

5.0

This is a great read, and I've realised I need to put all Mal Peet's novels on my to-read list. It's a loose retelling of Othello, updated with the hero recast as an iconic footballer (Otello's number is Beckham's 23) and his wife the pop-star daughter of a South American politician with her own cult-celeb status. Like Shakespeare, Peet explores some absorbing and philosophical themes - obsession, love, fame, family, jealousy- but he's also developing his sports journalist character Paul Faustino, for whom this is a third outing in a series of football themed books. I'm no sports fan, but the tight and pacy writing, as well as the Shakespeare links, had me completely hooked. There is a tense subplot, involving the fate of three street kids, that throws the corrupt state, the pointless media (El Sol, anyone?) and the decadence of the main characters into sharp relief. It's true that the motivations of Diego, Otello's agent, remain unclear, but then Iago's evil is pretty pure in form too. All this, and Peet writes the kind of prose that makes you forget you are reading.