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Product Description
Review
‘Patrick Gale offers us so much more than facts in this extraordinary blockbuster of a novel. Its exploration of family ties and tyranny is encompassed within a deft narrative. Much like the late Ivy Compton-Burnett, Gale presents us with a family saga which both questions and defies present day morality. Always fluent, Gale manages to be both brutal and witty. His analysis of the family tree is rooted in compassion and insight and expounded resoundingly well.’ Time Out
‘Wonderfully vivid, this novel is peopled with characters who compel you to care.’ She
‘Gale’s best and most complex novel. Gale is both a shameless romantic and hip enough to get away with it. His moralised narrative has as its counterpart a rigorous underpinning of craft. This reads, page by page, like a superior gushy blockbuster, but has, as part of its form and subject, a sober consideration of the place of sentiment and rigour in life and art.’ New Statesman
‘Brilliant. Vastly readable.’ Marie Claire
‘It is impossible to put “The Facts of Life” down. A rural English blockbuster. It is beautifully done.’ Daily Telegraph
‘Deftly characterised, deeply involving and relevant. A memorable achievement.’ The Times
Product Description
A composer who finds success in his later years surveys his grandchildren as they come to terms with the harsher facts of modern life.
A young composer, Edward Pepper, is exiled from his native Germany by the war, struck down with TB, and left to languish in an isolation hospital. But then he falls in love with his doctor, Sally Banks, and his world is transformed. They set up home in a bizarre dodecahedral folly, The Roundel – a potent place, which grows in significance as it bears witness to their family’s tragedies and joys. The years pass, and Edward watches from this sanctuary as both his grandchildren, Jamie and Alison, fall prey to the charms of Sam, an enigmatic builder, and have to come to terms with some of the tougher facts of life.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Facts of Life is one of those books that stands head and shoulders above others in the AIDS genre. As previous reviewers have pointed out, its a novel of two halves, contrasting two tales of courtship from different times. It is the juxtaposition of a modern gay fairy tale (with the drop dead gorgeous Sam who I long to bump into next time I wander past a construction site) and a beautifully written tale of post war (straight) romance that adds realism and a sense of perspective. Facts of Life cleverly juggles the bad and good fortune we all have to put up with in life, but, in typical Gale style, optimism wins the day. As one has come to expect of Gale, Facts of Life is faultlessly crafted, weaving story lines and drawing the reader in like much of his other books. Rather unfortunately Facts of Life is often to be found in the gay and lesbian section of your book shop. Don't let this put you off... this is a novel for everyone. Go read.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Like Gale's most famous novel, 'Rough Music', 'The Facts of Life' features two narratives several years apart concerning the same family. While the two threads are not interweaved in the same way as 'Rough Music', and do not have the same obvious link, both prove gripping reads, and the strong characterisation of Edward Pepper is retained throughout. As is common in Gale's work, a key theme is homosexuality and its complexities, but it would be unfair to pigeonhole this purely as 'gay literature' - anyone who appreciates strong storytelling will enjoy this novel. The contrasts between Edward and Jamie, the similarities between Sally and Alison and the three key deaths all provide particularly strong moments; and fans of Joan Collins are sure to indulge in a wry grin at the character of Myra Toye...
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The story is unusual, but the previous reviewer's suggestion that it's two books joined together, one better written than the other, seems bizarre. Effortlessly readable, the story is compelling throughout and extremely well crafted. It's not Dickens - or even Martin Amis - but it is very good, and to be recommended.
(And if Armistead Maupin liked it, you can't really argue with that, can you?)
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not meticulously researched at all
I found the narrative of this novel rather ludicrous and the characters over-the-top. What annoyed me quite a bit, too, was the name of the protagonist: Eli - not a German name. Read more
Published 9 days ago by ormond
One for the bin
I am not a prude but this is the only book I have ever thrown in the bin. Unreal characters with no depth, split story with nothing substantial to link the two parts and far too... Read more
Published 17 months ago by J. A. Scott-Brining
Bad editing
It's a good story, but why is a writer of Patrick Gale's calibre so badly served by his editor? As a former editor at Macmillan's I was astonished at the number of grammatical... Read more
Published 18 months ago by John M. Whyte
Well worth a read
I must admit that somewhere near the beginning of this book I almost stopped reading. It took a while to grab me somwhow but that may not be the fault of the author... Read more
Published 19 months ago by DEJ
Disappointing!
I read this book for my Book Club and was so disappointed. It is essentially two books in one. Don't waste your time, there are so many good books out there, this is not one of... Read more
Published 20 months ago by K. Dance
Tale of woe
If you want a blockbuster East Enders type tale of unbeatable dreariness, death, destruction and woe do not hesitate to read this novel. Read more
Published 23 months ago by lynneh
A bit dull really
I'm not sure what to think of this book. Some (small) parts of it were quite riveting, other parts were just so dull and weren't really going anywhere that I kept forgetting what... Read more
Published on 15 Feb 2010 by Helena
Slow to start but worth persevering
I read this book years ago and remembered liking it very much. Being in a 'Patrick Gale phase' just now I was keen to re-read. Read more
Published on 31 Oct 2009 by Iain C. Davidson
Define what the 'Facts of Life' are.
This is a book which takes you right to the middle of these characters and their lives. This is not the facts of life in its colloquial sense, this is about issues (murder,... Read more
Published on 3 Dec 2008 by Joanne D'Arcy
A great book with a bad cast!
Another great book by Gale but what I get again is a cast of characters that I don't care about and could quite easily dislike! Read more
Published on 26 May 2008 by Philip Thompson
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