Sun Damage by Sabine Durrant
Sun Damage (Harper Paperbacks) written by British journalist, editor and novelist Sabine Durrant, grabs the reader from the first page and doesn’t let go until, nearly breathless, you reach the final sentence. It’s a masterful sun-drenched combination of suspenseful psychological thriller and caper story set in a small village near Provence during the hottest part of the summer.
To paraphrase Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer’s classic song Moon River, written for the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Sean and Ali are two “grifters” off to see the world. The two drifters in the song lyrics are following their dreams and seeking a life of adventure. However, this is not true for this pair of con artists who met three years ago on a beach in Goa.
Ali was dead broke, hungry, at the end of her tether and wondering if she would ever see England again. Sean had been left adrift by his previous partner-in-crime and saw an opportunity in this homeless, pretty young girl whom he polished and soon trained in the art of the con. Posing as siblings, they joined forces. Their relationship was strictly business with no romantic involvement; Sean was both Fagin and Svengali acting as mentor and controller with Ali on a tight leash. He kept their funds and retained their passports providing her with pocket money for snacks, coffee and incidentals.
Grifting Across Europe
Sean was athletic and strikingly handsome; a well-spoken, seemingly educated, impeccably groomed, casually yet classically attired somewhat rakish gentleman who appealed to both sexes. He was several years older and far more experienced in thievery than Ali who was about 20 years old when they met. Blond, slender and pretty, Ali added sparkle to any room. Though her inexpensive wardrobe was meager, she could easily pretend her luggage had been stolen or lost if invited to be a house guest.
After returning from Southeast Asia, they began to fleece their way around Europe, targeting popular tourist resorts and beach communities. They preyed on unwary vacationers, unsuspecting shopkeepers, café owners and workers using charm and a variety of well-rehearsed and practiced methods of deception. Sleight-of-hand maneuvers akin to age-old shell games with the goal of relieving victims of money, credit cards and jewelry before being noticed and then swiftly moving on was the modus operandi of these two practiced tricksters.
Eavesdropping on conversations and keen observation of obviously well-to-do clientele in shops and restaurants helped them glean sufficient valuable information about people they would pretend were mutual friends. Thus they might receive invitations to parties and events or succeed in being included as extended-stay guests in summer homes or retreats. The class-conscious British tourists were particularly susceptible to charm and name-dropping, often making the quick assumption they shared mutual circles of acquaintances.
Frequently using assumed names they made vague references to boarding schools and universities such as Oxford or Cambridge. At garden or house parties, talk of events like Wimbledon or the Derby was often sufficient to garner them board and lodging as cheerfully welcomed guests. Once inside these vacation properties, they could scope out opportunities to steal valuables that might go unnoticed or blamed on staff. They never overstayed their welcome.
The Big Con
When Sun Damage begins, Sean and Ali have pulled off their most brazen deception having sold an “authenticated” yet nevertheless fake Picasso to a wealthy young man for 60,000 euros. It was a hastily scrawled tiny drawing on a crumpled vintage napkin.
Sean frequently sold valuable jewelry and bibelot to trusted fences. In this instance, one posed as an art curator and conservator who certified the work as genuine. Sean and his fence were to split the cash but he had yet to pay his confederate.
Meanwhile, the grifters were relaxing and seeking their next mark in the beach town of Sainte-Cecile-sur-Mer. Enter Lulu Fletcher Davies, a bored, upper-middle-class English girl, fresh from a boarding school background with training as a professional chef. She seems to be a typical “Sloane Ranger” with requisite good manners, upbringing, sophistication and an upscale wardrobe. The late Princess Diana represented the epitome of “Sloanes”.
What’s extraordinary is Lulu could be a genuinely posh doppelgänger or mirror image of Ali. Sean is immediately taken with her. There are certain differences: Lulu is a trained chef, a competent driver, has severe celiac disease and can barely say “bonjour” in French while former foster child Ali doesn’t cook or drive cars, loves all sorts of bread and pastries and speaks fluent French.
Lulu has a catering job coming up in a small village several hours away, cooking for nine guests in a luxury home. It’s a repeat engagement as she worked for the hosts the previous year and which she thinks she has canceled via a text message. Abruptly for reasons that will be revealed by reading this witty, engaging novel, Ali assumes Lulu’s identity, takes her phone, passport and suitcase of designer clothing, Sean’s stash of euros from the art theft and flees to the job assignment. Unable to differentiate between lavender and rosemary, what could possibly go wrong when one is about to pose as a professional chef?
Real-World Swindlers
Author Sabine Durrant has written a splendid light work of fiction to enthrall readers and gain new fans whether they treat this as a beach read or to warm a winter night. It’s a gem!
One of the simple distractions or cons Ali and Sean used repeatedly to pay a bill and gain some cash was once used on me years ago when I was waiting tables in a trendy restaurant. A charming French couple placed a $100 traveler’s check on the bill for payment but required a pen to sign it. When I returned with the pen, busy with other customers, I made change for the $100 only to discover when checking out at the end of the shift they had substituted a $50 traveler’s check. As we were responsible for our own banks, I had been personally cheated and learned a hard lesson. Adding insult to injury, they left a miserly tip!
About Sabine Durrant:
Sabine Durrant is a former assistant editor of The Guardian and a former literary editor of the Sunday Times whose feature writing has appeared in numerous British national newspapers and magazines. She has been a magazine profile writer for the Sunday Telegraph and a contributor to The Guardian’s family section. She is the author of several books, including Under Your Skin, Lie With Me, and Finders, Keepers. She lives in south London with her husband, the writer Giles Smith, and their three children.
