- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Jonathan Cape; First Edition edition (1 Jan 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0224087274
- ISBN-13: 978-0224087278
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.8 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 385,401 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Rescue Man
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
`Good, bold book...the architecture of the story is clear and pleasing'. --Guardian
`Ambitiously conceived...perfect pitch when it comes to the prose of each period'
--The Observer
'He [Anthony] hooks you in with his deep, complex characters; he meticulously sets the scene' --www.thebookbag.co.uk
`Ambitiously conceived...perfect pitch when it comes to the prose of each period'
--The Observer
'He [Anthony] hooks you in with his deep, complex characters; he meticulously sets the scene' --www.thebookbag.co.uk
Review
`[He has} clear prowess as a writer'.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Rescue Man by Anthony Quinn is a very well crafted and quite gripping love story. The book has a curious structure simultaneously working in the run up to the Second World War, with the main character Thomas Baines, and also in the Victorian period following the object of Baines interest an architect Peter Eames. Baines has been commissioned by a local publisher to make an architectural record of significant buildings in Liverpool and it is this activity that awakens his interest in the seemingly tragic and forgotten disciple of Ruskin working in the city in the 1860s.
Quinn, a native of Liverpool, evokes very well the cityscape of the Liverpool of the two periods. His descriptions of the work of the Heavy Rescue Team during the Blitz of 1941 are exceptional and the characters are well drawn and very believable. The romantic element in the book, both 1940s and 1860s, is handled sensitively and is very convincing without being trite or hackneyed. This excellent and very well written novel will appeal equally to those looking for first rate romantic fiction reminiscent of Greene's 'The End of the Affair' and for those interested in the history and architecture, and deeply layered nature, of our everyday surroundings in our towns and cities. The book will have a particular attraction to any native of Liverpool current or exiled.
Quinn, a native of Liverpool, evokes very well the cityscape of the Liverpool of the two periods. His descriptions of the work of the Heavy Rescue Team during the Blitz of 1941 are exceptional and the characters are well drawn and very believable. The romantic element in the book, both 1940s and 1860s, is handled sensitively and is very convincing without being trite or hackneyed. This excellent and very well written novel will appeal equally to those looking for first rate romantic fiction reminiscent of Greene's 'The End of the Affair' and for those interested in the history and architecture, and deeply layered nature, of our everyday surroundings in our towns and cities. The book will have a particular attraction to any native of Liverpool current or exiled.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Anthony Quinn's debut is one of the best I read while judging an exceptionally strong shortlist for the Author's Club First Novel Award, and it won for a number of reasons. It's a superbly evocative portrait of a lost city, Liverpool, once an exquisite Georgian city built largely on the profits of the slave trade. It's hero Tom Baines is a man in his forties, emotionally and professionally adrift. Unable to commit to anything, either personal or professional, he is left looking in at life from the outside, with only his fascination for architecture to connect him. He is obsessed by an obscure Liverpudlian architect, Eames, and part of the novel's cleverness and assurance is that, like AN Wilson's Who Was Oswald Fish it it a double narrative which gradually reveals the genius mixed with tragedy of the past.
The Rescue Man opens on the eve of the Second World War. With uncertainty in the air as the world seems on the brink of disaster, Liverpool is a city tense in anticipation of the coming conflict. Baines is an architectural historian who gets commissioned to write a book about the glories of his city, a job that brings him into contact with an elegant and intriguing woman photographer - the wife of his most admired colleague in the Heavy Bomb Disposal unit, or the Rescue Men, retrieving the wounded and dying from bombed buildings. In wartime, ordinary rules are suspended, risks taken and Baines finds himself caught up in a love affair that can only lead to disaster.
The tone of the novel is that of a fully fledged writer, confident and mature, with an interest in character, memory, emotion and place that engages a reader from the start. As other reviewers have noted it has something of Graham Greene's The End of the Affair about it, but it's also an excellent addition to a growing body of fiction set in Liverpool from Beryl Bainbridge, Linda Grant and Barry Unsworth.
The Rescue Man opens on the eve of the Second World War. With uncertainty in the air as the world seems on the brink of disaster, Liverpool is a city tense in anticipation of the coming conflict. Baines is an architectural historian who gets commissioned to write a book about the glories of his city, a job that brings him into contact with an elegant and intriguing woman photographer - the wife of his most admired colleague in the Heavy Bomb Disposal unit, or the Rescue Men, retrieving the wounded and dying from bombed buildings. In wartime, ordinary rules are suspended, risks taken and Baines finds himself caught up in a love affair that can only lead to disaster.
The tone of the novel is that of a fully fledged writer, confident and mature, with an interest in character, memory, emotion and place that engages a reader from the start. As other reviewers have noted it has something of Graham Greene's The End of the Affair about it, but it's also an excellent addition to a growing body of fiction set in Liverpool from Beryl Bainbridge, Linda Grant and Barry Unsworth.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The Rescue Man of the title is Tom Baines, an introverted, self-contained architect whose passion is the history of the landmark buildings of his home city, Liverpool. His wartime story is interspersed with extracts from the Victorian diaries of another Liverpool architect, Peter Eames. The 1860s was a time when Liverpool was undergoing a building boom, in sharp contrast to the devastation which took place during WW2. At first Eames comes across as a light-hearted, confident man, but as his cutting-edge designs are pilloried in the press and his family life disintegrates, he becomes more and more morose until his diaries come to an abrupt halt shortly before his mysterious death.
Baines becomes obsessed with finding out more about this iconic but forgotten architect, but as war breaks out his knowledge of buildings and how they 'behave' is put to more practical use in his work as a rescue man. The horrific bombing of Liverpool's docks and architectural landmarks is vividly brought to life as Baines and his team put their lives at risk to rescue those trapped inside collapsing buildings.
For me, reading about the history of some of the buildings I pass on my way to work every day was fascinating and I could visualise Baines' journey as he walked through the streets. I'm not sure how interesting this would be to someone who is not familiar with the city, but I'd still recommend the book as it's very atmospheric and I'm sure the story of the rescue operations and Baines' tangled relationship with the husband and wife photographers will be enough to keep you turning the pages.
Baines becomes obsessed with finding out more about this iconic but forgotten architect, but as war breaks out his knowledge of buildings and how they 'behave' is put to more practical use in his work as a rescue man. The horrific bombing of Liverpool's docks and architectural landmarks is vividly brought to life as Baines and his team put their lives at risk to rescue those trapped inside collapsing buildings.
For me, reading about the history of some of the buildings I pass on my way to work every day was fascinating and I could visualise Baines' journey as he walked through the streets. I'm not sure how interesting this would be to someone who is not familiar with the city, but I'd still recommend the book as it's very atmospheric and I'm sure the story of the rescue operations and Baines' tangled relationship with the husband and wife photographers will be enough to keep you turning the pages.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Brilliant evocation of the 1940's
Superb book.
I chose it completely at random from my library, having never heard of it nor its author. Read more
I chose it completely at random from my library, having never heard of it nor its author. Read more
Published 11 months ago by K. Symes
Rescuing time
I read this debut novel because I had been bowled over by Anthony Quinn's second novel "Half of the Human Race". Read more
Published 11 months ago by Smith
A slow burn but worth the wait
This is one of those novels which steals over you slowly, gradually entrancing you and trapping you in its narrative web. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Lally
A decent first book from someone who gets even better
I read Anthony Quinn's 2nd book - Half of the Human Race - before the Rescue Man - and liked it so much that I immediately purchased this first novel. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Mrs. L. Watson
An Absorbing Read
The Rescue Man
I bought this book for my dad who is from Liverpool but now lives in Canada. Read more
I bought this book for my dad who is from Liverpool but now lives in Canada. Read more
Published on 17 April 2009 by L. S. Phillips
The Rescue Man
This is an excellent debut novel which I think deserves wider readership than Liverpudlians. It is beautifully written with many strands of story cleverly interwoven and a very... Read more
Published on 13 Feb 2009 by P. White
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