What I liked about Sons and Fascination by G S Mattu:
This is a debut novel by a Londoner who loves London, and anyone who feels the same way about that city will experience warm recognition at certain references and descriptive passages. Indeed, I was hungry for more of these.
The writing warms up as the book progresses, so that by the end you feel you know the characters well enough to care what happens to them. The central female character in particular goes on a journey from woman of mystery to someone whose layers have been steadily stripped away to reveal her very human core. Frailty, thy name is woman?
There are some very nicely observed moments including gently comic interactions between the men and women in the novel. The flashbacks also worked well in building up the back story.
The overarching theme of fathers and sons is handled sensitively, manifesting itself in different forms. You certainly get the sense that blood isn't always thicker than water.
What could have been improved:
For a novel, it was an odd length. I agree with other reviews that the plot was straightforward enough for it to be a novella, with slightly tighter editing. Alternatively, it could have had fuller sub-plots to bulk it out. I felt the pacing was slightly off at times - for example, the true identity of the woman around whom the plot pivots is perhaps given away too soon?
To sum up:
This is a mature effort by a young writer willing to tackle big themes. I grew to really like the characters, loved the setting and would definitely read this author again.
