Out & About Spring 2018

BOOK REVIEW

MODERN Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor W inner of the Costa 2017 Novel Award, Reservoir 13 is a haunting account of a missing girl who is never found. Set in ‘a village’ in the Peak District, the book starts with the first rush of exposure as all the villagers and the wider public rally round the distraught parents and the heavily-publicised search for the missing 13-year-old. Time passes and still the girl is not found. Interest inevitably tails off, but the reader experiences the continuing effect the mystery has on the villagers and those connected with the seeming tragedy. With echoes of the Madeleine McCann mystery, this is a compelling read. McGregor paints a picture of a community forever blighted by the unwanted publicity which the girl’s mysterious disappearance has brought upon them. It also shows how everyone is affected, even those who were children at the time. McGregor never uses recorded speech and yet the characters, who come and go as the seasons change, each have a voice and the reader feels as if this is a living, breathing community. An at times uncomfortable, but absorbing read, which is very much a novel of our time.

CLASSIC Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry E very now and then I read a book that is out of my comfort zone and either give up on it straightaway or get hooked. Lonesome Dove is a western – not my thing at all; it won the Pullitzer Prize in 1985 – so must have good credentials; was serialised for television and starred Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall – I had no idea; and at 848 pages is not for the faint-hearted – quite a challenge in fact. But my goodness, how glad I was that I persevered with this one. Once you get past the first section, which introduces us to the main characters, and the crew set off on their perilous journey from the Lonesome Dove ranch in Texas, to Montana, it really takes off. McMurtry not only manages to create memorable and believable characters, he also paints a picture of the perilous times and the vast uninhabited landscapes of central America. Anything can happen – and it does. The story of Gus McCrae and Woodrow McCall, Jake Spoon and Lorena stays with you and the author is brutal in who he disposes of along the way. It is also very funny, the supporting characters are eccentric and the story arc takes you on just as perilous a journey as that undertaken by the cowboys depicted in this book. And yes, there are Indians, one particulalry nasty piece of work – some scenes still haunt me long after I read the last page. But the cowboys can be just as brutal and every day is a fight for survival for everyone. Harsh, brave and by turns heartbreaking, this is a breathaking read.

You can find many more book reviews on the Newbury Today website www.newburytoday.co.uk/out&about Leave your comments and tell us what you think of the books or email geraldine.gardner@newburynews.co.uk

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