The Countenance Divine

by Michael Hughes

'Michael Hughes writes like a brilliant cross between David Mitchell and Hilary Mantel' Toby Litt

In 1999 a programmer is trying to fix the millennium bug, but can't shake the sense he's been chosen for something.

In 1888 five women are brutally murdered in the East End by a troubled young man in thrall to a mysterious master.

In 1777 an apprentice engraver called William Blake has a defining spiritual experience; thirteen years later this vision returns.

And in 1666 poet and revolutionary John Milton completes the epic for which he will be remembered centuries later.

But where does the feeling come from that the world is about to end?

• ISBN10: 1473636493
• ISBN13: 9781473636491
• Publish Date: 11 August 2016
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 5 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: John Murray Press
• Imprint: John Murray Publishers Ltd
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[celinenyx]

1666. 1777. 1888. 1999.

Four years, one current that connects them: the far-reaching idea that human life will not be the same after.

The Countenance Divine is an ambitious novel, tying together not only four vastly different time periods and their characters, but also highly contrasting writing styles. I was impressed with the diversity of writing, moving from pseudo-confessional document to dream sequences and stream-of-consciousness letter writing. These technical feats are what makes the book good - but at the same time it was missing that element that ties it all together. Though the reader is compelled to turn the pages, the lurking presence that connects all stories was only touched on too sporadically. By the end of it, I was vaguely left with the feeling of "what did I just read?"