I read, and loved, several books by this author back in the 90's and early 2000's, and I was interested to see how I would fare with this most recent offering. The beginning almost defeated me. I couldn't seem to grasp the phrasing, or the characters, or the feel and flow for what was happening. I'm not sure why that was - it felt sometimes as if the sentences were sometimes jumbled, or the words were out of order. But it was a struggle. I persevered, because I kept thinking about how I had loved his early books, and I was sure there must be something more to come, and I'm really glad I did. Perhaps I started to hear the Irish lilt in the language, or perhaps I just became attuned, or it just got better? But suddenly I did find I was completely caught up in the story, and the lives of the characters. I started to remember that what I'd loved about Williams' books before was the intense emotional pull of the writing. And here, in this story, I was completely caught up in the doctor's life. The cast of characters is broad, and you get a feel for many of them, as they come and go in the story. There is the ever present sense of dread, hanging over everything, and the more you read, the more you know the people you're reading about, and the more emotional it gets.
So, a slow start I felt, but definitely worth it.
With thanks to Net Galley for my copy.
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