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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Salley Vickers' novel Instances of the Number Three is set in London and Shropshire. It describes the relationship between a dead man, his wife and his mistresses and is illuminated by philosophical ponderings on Hamlet and his ghost, and the poetry of Dante, Gerald Manley Hopkins and John Donne. Peter Hansome is the dead husband who walks through the pages of the novel, appearing to his wife Bridget in "his old tweed jacket and cords. He was, in fact, exactly, but without the disfiguring cuts and bruises of the accident, as she had seen him last--in his coffin. "To come to terms with his life and death, literature-loving Bridget makes friends with his mistress, Francis, an ex-artists' model: "She ... had a capacity for stillness and the kind of body which reflects planes of light." But as the omniscient narrator says:
Salley Vickers' novel Instances of the Number Three is set in London and Shropshire. It describes the relationship between a dead man, his wife and his mistresses and is illuminated by philosophical ponderings on Hamlet and his ghost, and the poetry of Dante, Gerald Manley Hopkins and John Donne. Peter Hansome is the dead husband who walks through the pages of the novel, appearing to his wife Bridget in "his old tweed jacket and cords. He was, in fact, exactly, but without the disfiguring cuts and bruises of the accident, as she had seen him last--in his coffin. "To come to terms with his life and death, literature-loving Bridget makes friends with his mistress, Francis, an ex-artists' model: "She ... had a capacity for stillness and the kind of body which reflects planes of light." But as the omniscient narrator says:
This is not an account of feminine jealousy, or even revenge, instead its a story of negotiation and discovery as the characters orbit each other like little planets.Vickers' prose style is witty, literary and decorous, her musing on the instances of the number three take in purgatory, heaven and hell; the eternal lovers triangle and the trinity (memorably described as the "different flavours of a Neapolitan ice"). The book is a controlled meditation on personal identity, passion and art, where emotions are analysed and reconciled. Sally Vickers' trick is to keep you interested in the hearts and lives of the characters as her novel of ideas gently unfurls.
This is a fine successor to Vickers' hugely successful debut novel, Miss Garnett's Angel, a subtle story of an older woman's emotional epiphany set in contemporary Venice. --Eithne Farry
Review
There are many interlocking triangles in this novel from the author of last year's word-of-mouth triumph, Miss Garnet's Angel. Centrally, there's the threesome formed by Peter Hansome, his wife Bridget and his mistress Frances. When Peter dies, Bridget and Frances form an uneasy friendship, joined by the enigmatic Zahin, whom Peter had latterly befriended. Each of the main protagonists is themself the centre of their own threesome; and each has multiple aspects to their character - thus there's Peter as husband and lover, and also a ghostly Peter who watches over his loved ones and eventually manifests himself to Bridget. And overlaying all this are the Trinity and notions of heaven, hell and purgatory, with which Peter had become increasingly fascinated before his death, taking instruction in Catholicism from Father Gerard. Despite this very carefully structured plot, the book is never heavy-handed. Vickers's voice is firm but subtle, ironic and measured, the strongest emotions often conveyed in tones of great restraint. This is a book that engages the intellect as much as, if not occasionally more than, the emotions, but there is plenty to savour in this highly original novel. (Kirkus UK)
Wise and wryly tender tale in which a dead man's divided affections lead to unexpected revelations-and alliances-as the women he loved learn to live without him. Low-key and refreshingly unponderous meditations on the number 3, Purgatory, and forgiveness give Vickers's already intelligent stor