Saw that this book was on the London Times best seller list, found it as bought by the Friends of the Library, and sunk right into it.The experiences author Maggie O'Farrell relates are all causes for alarm and some it it made me think that the author had an uncommon number of incidents of death threats in her life, from a run in with a killer to the fear of her own baby's death. That said, what makes this book a best seller is the creative writing, the distinct voice, the way with words. There is an almost visceral quality to images and the chapters are the names of body parts, Lungs, Cranium...
The short Cranium chapter is a test. Would you think that falling in love or lust with someone was a brush with death? But that's not it. It's that spontaneity and a certain mindlessness puts her in harms way, an arm hair away from a fast moving truck because she's concerned for a dog. The mood of this chapter is tantalizing and so I'm going to excerpt from it. (Note the symbolism.) It takes place in 1998
page 151
A man and a woman are walking beside a river. The water is so slow-moving as to be almost current-less, motionless. They pause on a bridge, looking down at their reflections in the mirror-flat leaf-dinted water: he looks at hers. she looks at his. She has been collection acorns in her pockets, greenish-brown and set aside in their cups, and as they have walked, she has sifted them with her fingertips and ascertained that, yes, each acorn will fit only inside its own cup. No other cup will do.
The woman is me. The man is - well, never mind.
They are talking about their situation, their conundrum. They have fallen in love, instantly, surprisingly, dizzyingly, but there are problems. There are obstacle. Other people stand in their way - other hearts, other minds, other situations.
*****
Simply loved this book, a unique idea, carried out with the moving pacing of a drum beat.
C 2024 Christine Trzyna
The pacing is also good and
