Wow.
I lack the words to actually convey everything this book has made me feel, but I will make one thing clear - this novel has just climbed to the top of my favourite reads of the year, and I am sure it will remain with me for years. I won't bore you with a synopsis of the book, you can find it elsewhere and it's something I hate to read in reviews, so I don't do it. I will say though that this tale isn't easy. It is painful, it is heartbreaking, there are moments where I was weeping - and oh so glad for it - and moments where I was just stunned, because there was just so much realism, so much colour, so much life in the pages of this book.
The writing is superb, reminiscent of old time favourites of mine like Maurice and Brideshead Revisited, the characters were alive before my eyes and in my mind, the prose filled with melancholy poetry. I cried, at certain passages, and yet, it is not a sad book, not in my opinion. It is a tale that moves and sweeps you off your feet, where every line seems to convey so much more than what you read through it, where the echoes remain beside you after you've finished and whisper in your ear, and fill you with love for this story of a mother and a son and a world in between them. I feel very lucky to have read it, as it has added so much to me - as a person, as a reader, as a writer, as well.
There aren't many more words I can use in praise of this book, only that I sincerely thank the author for having written it and NetGalley for having provided me with an ARC copy.

A wonderful read so well written the story the writing drew me in from the first pages.A heartwarming emotional tale.I will be recommending Alan RobertClark and this book .#netgalley #fairlightbooks

I have never read this author before,but what struck me from the first page was the exceptional prose. I felt for a long time that I was reading the greatest of nineteenth century literature-my favourite as the prose was so incredibly rich and precise. Every word fit perfectly and every scene was depicted with the greatest care and great emotion. It is a lovely book,a great novel that I will certainly recommend to all of the readers I know who love great writing.
The way in which the plot evolves and the delineation of the characters was just extraordinary. Arthur has to be my favourite character in the book.
I did feel a bit disappointed by the end of the book-when Frank-a great complex character ends up marrying Letty the maid of the house. The author does explain the relationship between Frank and Arthur and the reason for the love and affection that existed between the two men,but to my reading this would indicate that Frank would at least be identified as bisexual. But maybe for the time period in which the book takes place that is an issue to complex and foreign to include in this story.
I haven’t read a book as quickly as this one in over ten years. Mostly because I just wanted to bask in the incredibly beautiful prose. The author is a master craftsman who really understands how to use language to its fullest. There wasn’t one clunky passage in the work,I often wondered how does a contemporary writer write with such skill and such grace. There is such enormous restraint and gentility in the prose throughout the book. Reading a book as beautiful as this one encourages me to seek out other books or this sort. So much of contemporary prose reads so stilted and false. A wonderful read which gave me enormous pleasure and restored in me a great love of reading the best of books. Reading this was of the highest honour for me. Magnificent!

Isobel Farrar has a secret that she's kept for nearly forty years. Frank Brodie has been carrying pain since he can remember. When Frank and Isobel find each other it takes a long time for the inevitable frost to be addressed but Clark's handling of this is masterfully handled. Although gentle and heartwarming, the story of their reunification is not overly saccharine. Instead, it feels wrought with pain, sadness and deeply disturbing memories. Both are damaged by the separation that took place in the later years of the 19th century. Frank has to forgive Isobel for giving him up and Isobel needs to forgive herself even more.
Clark's story is warm-hearted and I'm not ashamed to say poignantly sad. I had to stop reading it in public at one stage as the possibility of tears appeared inevitable. Each character from the several threads that come together over the book is well drawn and failures and flaws are written with respect and care. In such a short novel to have created believable, well-rounded characters is a skill. Clark masters the writing of some lovely characters, especially the more typically minor ones - Arthur and Letty are just wonderful and they play such important parts in the unfolding of this wonderful story. Light strokes and care all around make this a wonderfully pleasing book.