Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9780099513421
ISBN: 0099513420
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Pages: 448
Publication Date: June 16, 2008
Publisher: Vintage
Studio: Vintage

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Rating: - Pulls apart the 1950s middle class society
I didn't like Lewis when I started to read but found that as he got older I became sympathethic towards his delicate mental state.
The loss of his mother and the way that was handled by his father and the rest of the society had a dramatic impact on his adult personality which developed throughout the book.
The 1950s society is shown in a very negative way with the stiff upper lip and no acknowledgement of any type of mental frailty.
All the way through the book I just wanted to ... Read More

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Rating: - Wonderful!
Wonderful! I have not read such a funny novel since 'Cold Comfort Farm'. No-one could have written a more brilliant pastiche of 'The Atonement' Loved it.

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Rating: - Disappointing
I bought this book after being bombarded with recommendations for it from various sources. However it did not deliver what it promised. It started off well, with an enjoyable and intriguing first half, but then the plot began to sag and become repetitive. In addition the unremitting cruelty and selfishness of almost all the characters, along with the continual batterings and other outbreaks of violence made the book a chore to read. Characters were poorly developed and often cliched, and the supposedly ... Read More

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Rating: - Didn't much like it
Well, it might be me but I failed to be moved by this book. I suppose it has to do with the fact that when I don't like the characters, or at least some of them, I find it impossible to cherish a book.Of course I pitied Lewis, or rather felt compassion for this damaged boy, left to grieve on his own aged 10 when his mother drowns, and left to deal with his own guilt, that of having failed to rescue her.But as for his father Gilbert,emotionnally stunted, his needy stepmother Alice, the shallow and manipulative ... Read More

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Rating: - Full of emotion
There is so much in this book in such a concise style.
It was also an excellent book for a Book Group with plenty to discuss.

Lewis Aldridge is just 10 when his mother drowns in the local river. He is the only one there and desperately tries to rescue her. He feels very responsible for her death and turns inside himself in his grief and guilt. The happy young lad becomes a confused, lost little soul.
Soon after this his father remarries and his new young wife doesn't know what to make ... Read More

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