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Paul Torday
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Book
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Publisher | Weidenfeld & Nicolson | ||
ISBN | 9780297855255 | ||
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Reviewer
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Ann
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Synopsis
The novel begins as Michael, a middle-aged man of means, is dressing for dinner at a friend's country house in Ireland. As he descends the grand staircase, he spots a small painting of a landing with an old linen press and the white marble statue of an angel. In the background is a woman clad in a dark green dress. During dinner, Michael comments on the painting to his hosts but they say there is no woman in the picture. When Michael goes up to bed later, he sees that they are correct. This is only the first in a series of incidents that lead Michael to question his grip on reality. His wife Elilzabeth is unsettled by the changes she sees in a man she originally married because he was dependable and steady, not because she loved him. Suddenly she is aware that she has never really known Michael and as he changes, she sees glimpses of someone she could fall in love with. Michael, in the meantime, is disturbed by events at his family's ancestral home in the wilds of Scotland and by a past that he is threatening to destroy everything, and everyone, he has ever loved.
Review
At first this seems like an ‘aga saga' but soon develops into an intriguing tale of discovery. Written in the person of the two main characters, Michael and his wife Elizabeth, in alternate chapters, it is two separate but joined stories, which is very apt.
Some 10 years into their dull and indifferent marriage, Michael begins to change character, and the reader shares with Elizabeth her reactions to this change, from dull to interesting and, finally, to fear. From Michael we learn the reason for the change, his feelings and his strange connection to his estate in Perthshire and the girl on the landing.
To tell more would spoil the voyage, but this makes one think on the limits and perceptions of reality. Really enjoyed it.
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