- This is such a beautifully written novel. It's refreshingly original and extremely powerful. I found it riveting.
- As much as anything it captures the intense drama of living in a small village in the countryside - the strange noises and eerie silences. Everything is heightened and scary. It could be the wind, animals, insects, intruders, or even killers.
- Young adolescent boy Lanny Greentree is a gifted, happy, very well liked, only child. His mother adores him; his distant father, who commutes to London for his work in finance, barely tolerates him.
- His mother introduces him to an older man, a well regarded artist, to teach Lanny the basics of drawing and painting. Lanny and the painter develop a strong personal relationship.
- Part 2, beginning half way through the novel, radically pivots the narrative. It becomes a mystery and a tragedy and it's very intense. Ironically Lanny's mother is a thriller writer.
- Porter, via a cacophony of village voices that are simple declarations of ignorance, prejudice and cruelty, paints a frightening reality of a seemingly innocent country town and it denizens. As one character says ‘All of this has shown what a bunch of wankers most people are’.
- Part 3 brings all the threads together in an extremely satisfying way. ‘...she knows she is watching a replay, she is peering from a fold in time....’
- I highly recommend this book. It's exquisitely good.
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