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Peter Benson combines a strong narrative with a poetic sensibility in a way that is rare.
There will be spoiler in what follows …
While the central narrative has power it is surrounded by unresolved plot lines … in partiular the sub-plot of the private detective Derek Muir – briefly engaged by Harry Swaine to track down Fargo and Anne but then ending up in his own messy scene of domestic violence, which happens mid-way through the book but has no impact on anything else that happens. It feels like it is a stand alone short story that has got accidentally included.
In the same way Harry and Anne’s sons clearly have significant backstories but these are never unpacked so they sort of hang there serving no purpose.
The love story of Anne and Fargo is charming, and you will them on, you want this sort of fairy tale love to work, and Peter Benson gives us that story.
Harry Swaine is the villain of the piece, and yet there are moments when, for all his wrongs, you feel sorry for him – there is no excuse for being a bully but there are reason why people turn out like that.
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