Read as part V of the “Along the Library
Shelf” reading journey
Chosen because
Potentially the least worst of the three
authors on offer and intrigued by the blurb’s claim that she is ‘a word of
mouth best seller’.
The Review
Mr Golightly arrives at his rented cottage
in a Dartmoor village with a view to taking a break from running his
(unspecified) business and using the time off to update and adapt a book he
wrote some time previously into a modern day soap opera script.
If it was peace and seclusion he was after
then he is soon disappointed as the various residents of Great Calne soon latch
onto him as a potential new audience, ally or confidante. So instead of writing
a soap opera he finds himself living in one.
At this point the characters come thick and
fast, and it takes a while (and for me a list) for them to become familiar. Eventually
they do, just in time for a couple of more substantial plot lines to emerge – a
prisoner escaping from the nearby prison, and Mr Golightly receiving a series
of enigmatic e-mails.
These carry forward well the second half of
the book and effectively distract the reader from a third, developing, theme
that only burst into my consciousness about 30 pages from the end (others may
be more perceptive and pick up earlier clues).
The prose is easy on the eye, if prone to
the odd flight of fancy, and the main characters soon develop from their
stereotypical stock into more complex individuals. The structure, leading to
its final reveal, is clever, subtle and rewarding; to me rendering the
Afterword superfluous.
This book definitely gets a ‘word of
mouth’ recommendation from me.
Read another?
I would be tempted, not by the style but by
the inventiveness of the concept and the skill in delivery, which may or may
not be replicated in her other works.
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