Glad I decided to leave off reading Charles Palliser's The Unburied until we'd got back from New Zealand, and especially glad I didn't read it in tandem with Life A User's Manual. To have attempted to do so would never have worked, both texts involving far too much information to deal with. I must admit, though, I was sorely tempted to get started on The Unburied when I bought it in Wellington, the opening, which I did take a glance at, looking so intriguing.
And so the whole novel proved to be. I stand in awe of writers like Palliser who can handle complex plots seemingly effortlessly. I can't make up coherent stories to save my life. This guy manages to concoct a mystery based around various murders centuries apart, all this linked to psychologically credible, compelling characters and make it work.
So glad I rediscovered him. I thought he'd dried up after the brilliant The Quincunx. How wonderfully wrong I was.
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