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ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- I have been an ardent fan of Nick Earls for years. His early books were about young men bumbling through the concepts of being responsible grown-ups; then he wrote of older men still trying to make sense of being adults. Good-natured humour and a fondness for his characters ran through his writing, and compassion for their situations.
In this new novel, his style has matured further, and the structure is less straightforward (something I would credit to his excellent set of recent novellas that is collectively known as the Wisdom Tree series). It goes back and forth across two centuries, starting with Mike, a middle-aged Australian in Alaska who is attempting to remake his life after a disastrous injury has stopped him from doing the one thing he was good at, and earnt money through; that and another personal tragedy have caused him to stop and take stock of himself. As a trainee real estate agent, his first client is Ellen, a former teacher whose late husband Walter was descended from old money, and he listens to her stories of their life together.
The novel tracks back forty years earlier to when Michael's family moved to London for his father's work; then to earlier in the century following an episode of Walter's father's life; then back to Vienna under siege in 1809, before coming back to Mike and the year after he met Ellen. It is a novel of connections, and mistakes, and coming to an understanding and acceptance of the past.
There's a lot happening under the surface of this fine novel, and the characters are all handled with great sympathy. A very satisfying and thoughtful novel indeed. Lindy
Empires rise and fall, human lives are lived, collisions occur more than we will ever know, and yet the unexpected can still happen.
Nick Earls is the author of twenty-eight books, including the bestselling novels Zigzag Street, Bachelor Kisses and Perfect Skin, and the award-winning novella series Wisdom Tree. His work has been published internationally in English and in translation, and has won awards in the UK, Australia and the US. Five of his novels have been adapted into plays and two into feature films.
ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- I have been an ardent fan of Nick Earls for years. His early books were about young men bumbling through the concepts of being responsible grown-ups; then he wrote of older men still trying to make sense of being adults. Good-natured humour and a fondness for his characters ran through his writing, and compassion for their situations.
In this new novel, his style has matured further, and the structure is less straightforward (something I would credit to his excellent set of recent novellas that is collectively known as the Wisdom Tree series). It goes back and forth across two centuries, starting with Mike, a middle-aged Australian in Alaska who is attempting to remake his life after a disastrous injury has stopped him from doing the one thing he was good at, and earnt money through; that and another personal tragedy have caused him to stop and take stock of himself. As a trainee real estate agent, his first client is Ellen, a former teacher whose late husband Walter was descended from old money, and he listens to her stories of their life together.
The novel tracks back forty years earlier to when Michael's family moved to London for his father's work; then to earlier in the century following an episode of Walter's father's life; then back to Vienna under siege in 1809, before coming back to Mike and the year after he met Ellen. It is a novel of connections, and mistakes, and coming to an understanding and acceptance of the past.
There's a lot happening under the surface of this fine novel, and the characters are all handled with great sympathy. A very satisfying and thoughtful novel indeed. Lindy
