Tuesday, January 21, 2014

The light of day, by Graham Swift


On a sunny, cool November day in 1997, George Webb is buying flowers to take to place of the grave of Bob Nash who died two years ago on this date.  Afterwards, he will visit Bob’s widow, Sarah.  So far, this sounds pretty straightforward, but over the course of the day this novel spans, we learn why Sarah is unable to make this graveside visit in person, why George is even involved, and about the intermingling of many lives and the unexpected consequences of the choices one makes.  It unfolds like a mystery.  Told entirely as an interior monologue, it is beautifully written.  Swift won the Booker Prize for Last Orders.  His Waterland is a favorite of mine, but there is much more of his work, including Last orders, that I haven’t read and I look forward to catching up.  324 pp.

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