I picked this up in waterstones - just to look at, and couldn't resist.

Synopsis
Tom Crick, a history teacher in the Fenlands, is driven by a marital crisis and the provocation of one of his pupils, to forsake his teaching and relate the story of his family who have lived in the Fens since the 18th century.

Whatever I say about this book I am sure I'll not do it justice. This is an ambitious, complex novel which manages to combine the history of the fens with a fictional autobiography, told by history teacher Tom Crick to his class of teenage pupils. I have never been to the fens - though I really want to be driven across them now -while reading this book you can't help but feel them around you, you become as affected by the mysteries and superstitions as the people, and I too felt slightly haunted by the ghostly fighure of Sarah Atkinson. Graham Swift has used history to try and explain why it is people do what they do to each other. This is the first Graham Swift book I have read, and it did take a few pages to settle into his style - very long sentence, lots of dashes, but now I will be looking out for more by him.

RELEASE NOTES:

Arrived today - thanks so much Heaven-Ali. On to my TBR pile :o) Hugs.

Bookshelf declutter