Merivel: A man of his time - Rose Tremain

66%
07.09.16

Tremain's books are always varied - if you don't like one, there's always another completely different story to try. But here, unusually, is a sequel. I read Restoration years ago - before I started my reviews, it seems - and remember little but it didn't matter much. Merivel is such a vivid character, strangely sympathetic despite - or because of - his many flaws, and doing the best he can with the times and means given to him. It's both a tragic and hopeful book - much like Restoration, actually.

Trespass - Rose Tremain

65%
21.05.12

Rose Tremain is a masterful novelist but not one that you can be fond of. Her novels - her best ones, at least - are to be admired rather than enjoyed. The Road Home was not top form but this, despite wringing out the theme of 'trespass' to its limit, is clever, unsettling, complex, its characters uncomfortably portrayed by their darkest thoughts that somehow make them more realistic than sympathetic heroes. Why is it that so many books are either 'good' or 'fun' and so few are both?

The Road Home - Rose Tremain

59%
29.07.08

One of Britain's best novelists, yes, but her hard edge is difficult to overcome, even when tempered by the usual unexpected happy ending. I couldn't finish her previous novel 'The Colour' and this was similar in its portrayal of isolated, semi-sympathetic characters. Interestingly, it is the female characters who are comparatively poorly drawn, but otherwise the story is complex and carefully structured (bar the irritating set pieces).