I had already read this marvellous novel, the last that Helen Dunmore wrote before her untimely death. What a pleasure it was to read it again for book club. Lizzie Fawkes is an independent young woman for 1792, but she loves her domineering older husband, the successful housing developer Diner Tredevant. Their relationship is central to the story and is brilliantly described by the author. Lizzie is told by one character that "you have always done as you wanted" and her obsession with caring for her infant step brother causes ructions with both her husband and the baby's father.
The novel links the housing boom in Bristol with what is happening across the channel. The French revolution is in full swing. The first half of the book is positively fine, setting the scene for the fabulous second half where the pace picks up and a succession of devastating events make this one of the best novels this century.
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