Synopsis:
This sequel to "The Radiant Way" describes life in 1980s Britain and is set in a Yorkshire city to which some of the characters have decamped from London. It describes the relationship between Alix and Paul, an imprisoned mass murderer.
Reviews:
Continuing her ironic depiction of "mean, cold, ugly, divided, tired . . . post-imperial, post-industrial" Britain, and again taking up the lives of Liz Headleand, Alix Bowen and (only tangentially) Esther Breuer--met in The Radiant Way --Drabble here produces a tighter and more cohesive story, though sometimes burdened with polemic digressions. Obsessed with divining the origin of his gruesome deeds, Alix visits mass murderer Paul Whitmore in prison; psychotherapist Liz, outspoken in her views of child sexuality and sexual abuse, muses that human life "is nothing but a history of deepening psychosis." They and other characters confront the problems of racism, international terrorism, random violence, family relationships in the era of divorce, unemployment and urban blight--a cross-section of the ills for which they hold Margaret Thatcher partially responsible. Alix finds an answer of sorts to the mystery of Whitmore's character; the puzzle of Liz's mother's life, left hanging in the earlier book, is solved; Liz's sister Shirley Harper temporarily disappears and returns a new woman. While Drabble's quirky characters often seem to exist to vent their author's spleen, they animate an involving story. 30,000 first printing; first serial to Harper's; author tour.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Drabble's latest is a worthy sequel to The Radiant Way ( LJ 10/15/87 ) , continuing its story of enduring friendship among three vibrant women. Leading very different lives, they are united in an incessant desire for truth in matters large and small. Psychiatrist Liz Headleand keeps one eye on her ex-husband's search for a missing colleague and the other on her sister's alarming behavior after a family tragedy. Esther Breuer, living uneasily on the Continent, ponders her own heart. In northern England, Alix Bowen divides her time between visits to a mass murderer and the archives of a reclusive poet. A satisfying denouement reveals at last the secret of Liz's parentage. The diverse plotlines develop amidst an abundance of social detail about 1980s Britain, providing a rich and fascinating texture. A winner; highly recommended. --Starr E. Smith, Georgetown Univ. Lib., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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