Krantz lost novel

They say we all have a book inside us. Of course I was already aware that Krantz had written some poetry, had even recited it in public. But it was still a surprise to hear about his lost novel.
You remember I told you about my last meeting with Krantz, in Paris, Esther says. Well, I didn’t tell you everything. I forgot to mention the manuscript.
What manuscript?I ask her.
Krantz had been writing a novel, which he’d tried unsuccessfully to get published in France. He wanted me to try on his behalf in America.
So what happened – did it ever get published?
No, says Esther. I gave it a friend in the trade, but nobody seemed that interested.
I guess that’s that then.
Well, not quite. You see, I kept a copy of the manuscript for myself. I guess you’d better have it now.
She hands me an envelope. You know what, she says, you could try again, go for the sympathy vote - mention the Confederacy of Dunces.
I suppose you’ve read this, I say, opening the envelope. In bold black capital letters on faded white paper was typed the title The Stranger and the Goddess.
She nods. A strange title, I thought.
What’s it about, I ask.
It’s about an Englishman named Patrick Russell, she says, and a classic Citroen DS.
I smiled – Krantz was very fond of his DS.
Is it any good though, honestly?
She shrugs. I enjoyed it, but you should make your own mind up.
I start turning the pages. It’s so kind of you to give me this. I give Esther a big hug.
I know he’d have wanted you to have it, she says.

So I start reading my father’s novel, written over twenty years ago. It feels strange, knowing that he’d kept it secret at the time. The plot is rather unstructured, it leaps about a lot, and the parallel stories don’t quite interlock properly, but you know what? I think he had definite potential as a novelist.