Gill Hornby
They’re Behind You
You may find, somewhere on the very first page of Joanna Trollope’s new novel, that you start to emit a curious sniffing noise. In some cases, this may develop, as early as the middle of page three, into a deep and convulsive sob. And quickly thereafter, you could find yourself clutching your loved ones and demanding they make an appointment with BUPA at the earliest possible opportunity. Having dealt, in her previous books, with every misery that can befall the unhappy family – adultery, poverty, beastly step-children and the works – Trollope here begins with the one that can never be avoided, even by the very happiest.
‘They just knew, all four of them, before he said a word. They knew he was going to say, “I’m so very sorry but –,” and then he did say it.’ Richie Rossiter – popular musician, devoted family man, cheerful, cocky Northern-boy-made-good – is dead from the beginning
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
We've extended our February offer for a week, meaning you can still get a six-month subscription for only £19.99.
Click below for details.
https://www.mymagazinesub.co.uk/literary-review/promo/literaryfebruary/
'McCarthy’s portrayal of a cosmos fashioned by God for killing and exploitation, in which angels, perhaps, are predators and paedophiles, is one that continues to haunt me.'
@holland_tom on reading Blood Meridian in the American west (£).
https://literaryreview.co.uk/devils-own-country
'Perhaps, rather than having diagnosed a real societal malaise, she has merely projected onto an entire generation a neurosis that actually affects only a small number of people.'
@HoumanBarekat on Patricia Lockwood's 'No One is Talking About This'.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/culturecrisis