A BOOK obtained by an accidental encounter; a volume I had never considered in the several years since it first appeared in 2017 and won the Costa First Novel Award. Not even as an impulse buy while browsing bookshop shelves. This intriguing, mesmerising and continually delightful tale was plucked from a box of unwanted items discarded by a neighbour when she was moving out. Lucky me. Although I did hesitate when glimpsing that inked-in O of the cover illustration; what other markings had been inflicted inside, perhaps obliterating passages of text? The joke was on me; it transpired as a… Continue reading

RARELY do I find a book having such a deep and personal impact as this moving and tender story. Its effect lingered long after the final word had been read; reviving cherished memories, plucking at the heartstrings. Poignant moments from earlier days were relived, reflected upon with a mixture of sadness and joy. The details are mostly well distanced from my own experiences, yet the timeline and locations mirror my own to an unsettling extent. They converge and mingle before going on their separate ways, like tramlines at a junction,  As do the over-arching themes of separation and unbridgeable distance. Continue reading