- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New edition edition (29 April 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140272178
- ISBN-13: 978-0140272178
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.6 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 327,200 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Simone is 38, a district judge whose husband Donald is on the verge of bankruptcy and breakdown. Whilst she is at court, passing judgement on the lives of others, Donald stays at home and looks after their two young sons. One morning a letter arrives; someone she has tried to forget has not forgotten her and Simone's private history is about to collide with her public world.
About the Author
Helen Dunmore has published nine novels with Penguin, including: Zennor in Darkness, which won the McKitterick Prize; Burning Bright; A Spell of Winter, which won the Orange Prize; Talking to the Dead; With Your Crooked Heart; The Siege, which was shortlisted for the 2001 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award and for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2002; Mourning Ruby and House of Orphans. She is also a poet, children's novelist and short-story writer.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
It's the end of the season now, and the summer visitors are gone, shaping up to their city lives. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
It's the end of the season now, and the summer visitors are gone, shaping up to their city lives. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
The title of this book is from a poem by e. e. cummings, 'Buffalo Bill', about a macho man facing up to death- 'and what i want to know is / how do you like your blueeyed boy / Mister Death.' The novel is also about facing up to death: "And what's the worst that can happen?" asks one of the characters, about being in a boat during a storm. "You can die, that's all, that's the worst that can happen." He shrugs.
As well as death, the novel is about memory, Vietnam, burying the past, the sea, blackmail, lust, the law and motherhood. The characters are well drawn and realistic, and the writing about the sea made me want to head for the coast. The plot is also very readable, with tension and reflection in all the right places to keep you hooked.
But when I reached the end I felt a little disappointed, that the promise had not quite been realised. There is much dazzling, sensuous and precise writing here, but there are also passages of more mechanical writing, and the plot seems on reflection just a little too artificial. The novel set out to hit many targets with great flailing wings, but in the end failed to say quite as much as it promised.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Your blue-eyed boy didn't live up to the expectations I had for the new Dunmore novel. There is the regular Dunmore trait of slipping between two different periods of time, but here it works less effectively then in Burning Bright.
However it was still a captivating read, with clever insights into the world of a woman who has made sacrifices to hold her family together, despite no longer feeling real passion for her husband. But the emotional bonding I have come to expect with Dunmore characters never materialised.
The blackmailing aspect of the novel was less effective. There was no climax, and no real sense of tension.
If you have never read Helen Dunmore before I would strongly suggest you read Burning bright or A spell of winter first, as this is definately not Dunmore at her compelling best.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Helen Dunmore's writing affects me like Somerset Maugham. The plot becomes secondary to the pleasure of just reading the book. Her characters are realistic in that the various aspects of the human condition are presented in a believable, sometimes brutally truthful light. A delightful read.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Disappointing
As other reviews have said, Dunmore's writing style pulls you in and carries you along, but to what? Read more
Published 11 months ago by J. Smith
Quick read but not the best read
Picked up at the charity shop last week, it was a quick read. There were scenes described by the narrator (Simone, the judge) which didn't seem to fit the story. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Pink Panther
Boring
Sorry, but I found this book so boring. I struggled to finish it and interestingly I have no memory of what it was about. I only finished reading it a week ago!!! Read more
Published 18 months ago by Heather Taylor
A dark story
OK, so this book was first published in 1999, I'm not sure why I've only just read it, but I took it on holiday this year and really enjoyed the pace of writing. Read more
Published 24 months ago by Lincs Reader
A powerful book
This is not a straightforward narrative. It draws together both internal and external aspects of life using first and third person narratives. Read more
Published on 15 Jan 2010 by hiljean
Too many unsolved mysteries.....
Some absolutely wonderful writing and often a terrific sense of atmosphere, but ultimately disappointing because (for me) too many ends were not tied up. Read more
Published on 19 April 2003
Chilling and displaying an unexpected twist
Although slightly unconnected at times, Dunmore's novel shows extreme emotional intensity and displays conviction in conveying all human emotions such as anger, greed and pure... Read more
Published on 11 Aug 2001
Beautifully written
Plot is unnecessarily overwrought,otherwise this is so beautifully written it takes your breath away. The characterisation too is wonderful. Read more
Published on 1 Feb 2000
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