In which a new beginning is completely the wrong end.
Having read and enjoyed all of Rosamund Pilcher’s books, I have been meaning to pick up her son’s novel An Ocean Apart, but never got round to it. In Waterstone’s in Brighton I found his latest volume, Starting over, and thought: «Why not?» So it made its way into my shopping bags (along with, it must be said, rather a lot of other books). I thought this might do well for holiday reading, and I was right. I expected the novel to last me until Scotland (Sunday) at least, as it didn’t seem like I’d read that much earlier on in the week, but I started it on the Thursday in Clonmel and finished it on the bus to Dublin the next day. Once I had been caught up in the story it was well nigh impossible to put it down. Apart from obviously having mastered the design of plots that draw the reader on, Pilcher also creates characters that are believable and sympathetic. Having said that, I was NOT happy with the ending of this book – I still recommend it, but be forewarned that it does not «do what it says on the box» (it being a «they lived happily ever after» sort of box, and to my mind this was not how the story ended – which left me feeling somewhat cheated). I will leave it along the way somewhere…