This is a delicate and poignant intertwined story of the death of the narrator's wife and his memory-invoking refuge in the place where he lost his innocence on a summer holiday as a child. Yes, it's all been done before, but Banville's prose makes it different, with its crystalline images popped in between intimate and colloquial exchanges with the reader. I'm not sure what he was getting at (enlighten me somebody!) but enjoyed the experience anyway.
*Winner of the 2005 Man Booker prize
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 33 February 2006 ) |
