Post by janetandjohn on Apr 12, 2016 16:15:07 GMT
Emerson Limeflower is his name, and when he arrives in town next to no-one really knows what he's come for. It's 1879, in a small town in West Virginia. Emerson takes up lodgings with three unmarried sisters and they grow to like him, one of them more than the others. But this is a book where everyone has a little secret, a little mystery to hide, including Emerson himself. For he is a man with a talent. He is a mindreader and not a charlatan either, but a real mindreader. He can get in there and think your thoughts and sometimes he can remove bad thoughts and put good ones in their place.
It is not until much later in the book that you will find out the one person who he really needs to find out about, but in the meantime you will find out more about the three sisters, the shy lad whose talent is the piano but who's father does not care for him; the town bully, with an eye for any lady passing; the barmaid and others. One of the others, a Doctor, has a bigger secret than most, and perhaps we need to worry about him - certainly Emerson seems very interested. It starts as a mystery, but at the half way point it becomes a somewhat darker tale and the whole point of his arrival in town is laid bare.
I felt that the book was a little overlong. Not that there is repetition in the telling of the tale, but I did find myself counting the pages towards the end. This doesn't mean that it wasn't a good read. The research was excellent - the author is British but this book is set in America some years after the Civil War, and one of the characters is connected deeply with that war. I believe this is his first book, and Quercus as publishers don't often make mistakes, so this is sure to be a seller for them. I will certainly keep my eyes open in case Sanger writes another novel, but just a wee bit shorter is all I ask.
[copy of Amazon Vine review]
It is not until much later in the book that you will find out the one person who he really needs to find out about, but in the meantime you will find out more about the three sisters, the shy lad whose talent is the piano but who's father does not care for him; the town bully, with an eye for any lady passing; the barmaid and others. One of the others, a Doctor, has a bigger secret than most, and perhaps we need to worry about him - certainly Emerson seems very interested. It starts as a mystery, but at the half way point it becomes a somewhat darker tale and the whole point of his arrival in town is laid bare.
I felt that the book was a little overlong. Not that there is repetition in the telling of the tale, but I did find myself counting the pages towards the end. This doesn't mean that it wasn't a good read. The research was excellent - the author is British but this book is set in America some years after the Civil War, and one of the characters is connected deeply with that war. I believe this is his first book, and Quercus as publishers don't often make mistakes, so this is sure to be a seller for them. I will certainly keep my eyes open in case Sanger writes another novel, but just a wee bit shorter is all I ask.
[copy of Amazon Vine review]
