The group enjoyed this novel but not quite as much as our previous read by Patrick Gale, A Place Called Winter. We all enjoyed Gale's use of language to paint a picture; the way the characters were beautifully drawn and the chapters written from five different perspectives slowly revealing different aspects of each character ... "like peeling an onion".
We questioned whether the theme of homosexuality, which ran throughout the novel, was the driving force behind Patrick Gale writing this novel as almost every male character in the book was homosexual.
We all learned something from the social history revealed in the novel from the drought in Canada, the hardship it brought, to the shocking details of the hangings at Walton jail; we recalled life in the 1950s from details in the novel. We were surprised how much detail Gale revealed of the characters' sexual lives as most of the novel was written from family letters and details the lives of his grandparents and parents.
We loved the relationship between Whistle and Harry and her letter, late in the novel, thanking him for all his support.
Group Review: Members score varied between 6/10 and 9/10 - average 8/10.
Quotes:
- "people without secrets ... are like people with tidy houses, usually not worth knowing"
- "Harry stepped quietly back into his house before being assailed by a storm of grief that made his knees buckle and left him rolling on the floor before the stove like a dog in pain." "He knew the change was irrevocable ... that he must get up ... and accept that life would continue, but differently. Yet the change felled him ... he lay there, crying at intervals, with the licence of a man bereaved."