One comes to a new Christine Dwyer Hickey with high expectations, and these are brilliantly fulfilled with The Narrow Land.
Set mostly on Cape Cod soon after the end of World War Two, it portrays the the world of Edward Hopper, now struggling to keep alive his creative inspiration, and his marriage which is also mired in a poisonous mix of jealousy, impotence and secretiveness.
Combined with this is the story of a young boy, a German refugee, now adopted, and on holiday with a friend of his mother and her son.
Now neighbours, these families are slowly drawn into a complex web of relationships.
This book is beautifully written, evocatively summoning up life on the Cape, and capturing the most fragile of feelings with a light and sure touch.
A thoroughly satisfying novel, I look forward to re-reading it soon.
Set mostly on Cape Cod soon after the end of World War Two, it portrays the the world of Edward Hopper, now struggling to keep alive his creative inspiration, and his marriage which is also mired in a poisonous mix of jealousy, impotence and secretiveness.
Combined with this is the story of a young boy, a German refugee, now adopted, and on holiday with a friend of his mother and her son.
Now neighbours, these families are slowly drawn into a complex web of relationships.
This book is beautifully written, evocatively summoning up life on the Cape, and capturing the most fragile of feelings with a light and sure touch.
A thoroughly satisfying novel, I look forward to re-reading it soon.