the distance between us, Fahrenheit 451 and A perfectly good man

the distance between us is the fourth novel by Maggie O'Farrell that I have read. It is nearly up there with the brilliant "The Hand That First held Mine", "The Disappearing Act of Esme Lennox" and "After You'd Gone", but not quite. It just got a little too romantic two thirds through, but apart from that, it is a typically wonderful story from this terrific author. For a long time there are two very separate stories. The fact that they alternate every page or so is at first quite disconcerting. But the writing, as usual, is so fluid and warm, that we soon are entranced by what happens to Jake and Stella. I just love O'Farrell's turn of phrase, and the back stories are cleverly interwoven with the present day.

Fahrenheit 451 was a big disappointment. The story was fine, and Bradbury's vision of the future was powerful and disturbing. But I found the writing to be awkward and his descriptions sometimes poor. "The bombers crossed the sky and crossed the sky over the house, gasping, murmuring, whistling like an immense, invisible fan, circling in emptiness". Just not my taste at all.

I had forgotten that Patrick Gale is such a great storyteller. My review of his earlier bestselling novel "Notes from an Exhibition" was not entirely complimentary, so either I got that wrong or his latest book, A perfectly good man, is so much better. Both are set in the same area of Cornwall, but this is not so much a sequel as a companion piece. Like his earlier book, the narrative shifts around in time and person. The central character is Barnaby Johnson, the vicar of Pendeen and Morva, but we also follow various other connecting characters in a way that is always satisfying. This mainly a gentle but never boring story of people with secrets that sometimes burst through with awful consequences. The writing is full of soul, wit and well constructed. I enjoyed it immensely.