Arena Books
4 total works
Edwin Fisher is on holiday at the English seaside - but this revisiting of childhood haunts is no ordinary holiday. Edwin is seeking to understand the failure of his marriage to Meg, but it turns out that her parents are staying at the same resort - whether by accident or design - and are keen to patch up the relationship. As the past and his enigmatic wife loom larger, deeper truths emerge and the perspective shifts in unexpected ways. This is an extremely subtle story, a consummate portrait of English provincial life told with all Stanley Middleton's artistry and depth of feeling. It was joint winner of the Booker Prize in 1974. 'At first glance, or even at second, Stanley Middleton's world is easily recognizable...The excellence of art, for Middleton, is an exact vision of real things as they are. And because he is himself so exact an observer, his world at third glance can seem strange and disturbing or newly and brilliantly lit with colour' - A.S. Byatt.
Henry Fairfax's life is one of orderly routine: accounting and management by day, the writing of radio plays by night, and a circle of friends. But only a few years ago he had lived through a painful divorce after nine years. And very early in the narrative, surprised by a sudden attack in the night, Fairfax stops a would-be mugger with a heavy right-hand blow. But what is he to think when Laura, now an independent, successful businesswoman, suggests that they marry again? They had parted loathing each other. And yet it possible that Henry's heart, like the mugger, may surprise him. Stanley Middleton's novel treats once more of the choices that seemingly comfortable people have to make. The issues he raises speak to the human condition, and make moving drama of our daily lives.