If you are a Margaret Drabble fan then you will know her strength is in characterisation. Here she concentrates on a family and elderly friends with the narrative switching between them as each character analyses the others. It is a novel about growing old and dying, centring mostly on a seventy-plus lady, Fran, working for a care charity. She has two children, one in the Canary Islands licking his wounds after the unexpected death of his lover and the other in the West Country. For a novel which is not crime there are a surprising number of deaths. The author beautifully captures the emotions and actions of the elderly, the signs of aging that only they notice in themselves and their thoughts of death. But this is not a depressing or morbid book, rather it is an insightful and very moving one which is actually in a way comforting. There is a good deal of symbolism and stunning imagery which is coloured with historical, artistic, literary and cultural references, a joy to read. ~ Sarah Broadhurst
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
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