Serving in the British Army in Northern Ireland, Joseph shot and killed a man. A subsequent inquiry has cleared him of any inappropriate behaviour, yet, now returned to civilian life, he remains haunted by the experience. Working as a painter and decorator in London he meets Alice, and through her, her grandfather David, himself a veteran of the armed forces. In the 50s, David served in the RAF in Kenya, where unbeknown to his grand-daughter, he bombed Mau-Mau jungle hide-outs. In all probability and equally in the course ...
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Serving in the British Army in Northern Ireland, Joseph shot and killed a man. A subsequent inquiry has cleared him of any inappropriate behaviour, yet, now returned to civilian life, he remains haunted by the experience. Working as a painter and decorator in London he meets Alice, and through her, her grandfather David, himself a veteran of the armed forces. In the 50s, David served in the RAF in Kenya, where unbeknown to his grand-daughter, he bombed Mau-Mau jungle hide-outs. In all probability and equally in the course of duty he too has blood on his hands. As soldier and pilot, both Joseph and he are innocent; as men, both perhaps are guilty. In this powerful exploration of guilt, war and the power of mankind's greatest yet all too frequently broken taboo, 'Thou shalt not kill', Rachel Seiffert delivers on the remarkable promise of The Dark Room and Field Study.
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Seller's Description:
This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has soft covers. In good all round condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 450grams, ISBN: 9780434015511.
quietly stunning novel. The point of view shifts between Alice and Joseph, the new man in her life. Alice's past--a father she never knew in childhood and who rejected her again later, a self-absorbed stepfather, a grandfather who was civil but detached--has made her long even more than most of us for an intimate relationship. Things seem to be moving along swimmingly until Alice intuits that Joseph is hiding something about his stint as a soldier in Northern Ireland. And when her grandfather begins to open up to Joseph, the novel--and Joseph--explodes.
Seiffert's spare, clean style is perfectly suited to her subject matter. She gets relationships and the way they work just right and makes her points about war through them instead of through polemic. Best novel I've read so far this year, and it will be hard to beat.