Rating: 5/5
Review:
An excellent, enjoyable novel
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It is thoughtful, engrossing and very well written in a distinctive but very readable style. One of the book's great strengths is its pacing, as the story of a hidden childhood memory, the rediscovery of the truth and how both the events and their rediscovery affect those involved all gradually emerge, and I think the publisher's synopsis gives away more detail than I'd have wanted to know before I read the book, so if you've not already read it I'd advise you not to.
The style is somewhat unconventional, in that it's written in the present tense and speech has no quotation marks around it, leading to some slightly tricksy stuff with other punctuation and paragraph layout. Normally, I don't like this sort of thing at all, but I got used to it very quickly and it gave the narrative an atmosphere which seemed to fit the story very well.
The use of music as a powerful stimulus to memory is excellently done, as is the contrast between the parched summer of 1976 where the memories originate and the flood-sodden recent summer of the main narrative. Characters are extremely believable and well-drawn and Azzopardi also captures their emotions and transient feelings exceptionally well. As a tiny example, one character has become enchanted by and is at least half in love with a woman, and when she's absent Azzopardi writes, "She's still here, and in every room of the house. Even the daylight has the look of her." For me, those two brief, unflashy sentences capture the man's feelings perfectly. The book is full of such things and is worth reading for this alone, but I also found the emerging story really fascinating and kept having to read one more chapter.
In short, it's a really thought-provoking, involving and enjoyable book. Highly recommended.
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