Here we are

In the summer of 1959 a show is held each evening in the pavilion at the end of Brighton pier. Ronnie Deane is a magician performing under the stage name Pablo with his assistant Evie White (Eve). The compere of the show is Jack Robinson (real name Jack Robbins). Here we are by Graham Swift is about the relationship between this trio of friends.

Initially the story also recounts the events in the life of a young boy sent to the country to live with strangers who became his defacto family during World War II, the relationship with his mother and his desire to be a great musician. A friend suggests that he should perform his act during the summer season on the pier but that he also needs an assistant which is when he is introduced to Evie. As the season progresses, the popularity of the magician's act increases until by the end of the season it is the star act of the show. The latter part of the novel provides Evie's viewpoint reflecting on that summer of 1959 and her almost fifty years of marriage with her husband who died the previous year. 

This short novel takes us into a world of magic and illusion and how it is percieved and can affect the lives of others. What is real and what is illusion?