A. Hunt

Starts well but... yawn... slows down to a poor finish, 24 Mar 2013

Having read plenty of raves about this, I got stuck into it quite quickly and enjoyed it to begin with as a good weekend armchair read. The dialogue flows well and it felt believable enough to sustain the storyline, despite its somewhat contrived opening. But as it wore on, I became less enamoured and less willing to buy into the plot. Without giving away spoilers, the woman's situation made it feel less than likely that she'd be prepared to take the risks she did in meeting up with her internet date. What was in it for her? I lost my sense of curiosity about him, and wouldn't she have, too? And I didn't entirely trust his motives either, but that's OK, it keeps you guessing. It was all… Read more

A very pleasing confection, fantasy meets history, 24 Mar 2013

In this diverting and engaging book, our hero is (no spoiler here!) a 100-year-old man. He has seen the world and met all the great leaders and opinion formers of the last century. He's both everyman and someone very special, ordinary and great all at the same time. He is our guide to the world we live in and the one(s) we have read about in history, but he shows us a slightly different view - sometimes an overview and sometimes a worm's eye view. He likes to mind his own business, and yet he intervenes when he doesn't like what fate has in store for him.

Fantastical though it clearly is, this is not a crazy story, nor is it magical in tone - more like matter of fact. We meet a… Read more

Exquisite and beautiful, 24 Mar 2013

I was expecting to enjoy this because I've read the author's two previous novels, but I was still in for quite a surprise: this is an outstanding read, easily my favourite of the year. Not only could I not put the book down, but the major emotional punches are still delivering their blows after I've finished reading it. I didn't predict any of the twists and turns, and as I neared the end I was completely gripped, and surprised again by the ending itself.

Yet despite the strength of feeling the events, characters and their relationships evoke, and the careful and clever plotting and pacing, this is also a book brimming with delicacy and subtlety, with beautiful and finely… Read more