Whether you believe in reincarnation or not Ferney by James Long is a most enjoyable read. It’s difficult to write about it without giving away too much. I liked the balance between historical fact and imagination as the story of Ferney and Gally unfolds.

When Gally and her husband Mike buy a derelict cottage in Penselwood in Somerset they meet Ferney, an old man of 80 who knows the history of the cottage.

Gally thinks it is perfect. Despite his misgivings Mike agrees to buy and renovate the cottage because after Gally’s miscarriage he wants to keep her on an even keel and this promised to bring her “more peace and happiness than he had seen since they first met.” At this point in the book Gally is very fragile, tormented by nightmares and mentally unbalanced (or so I thought).

But right from their first meeting with Ferney he startles them both. Gally sees him as “a philospher king with a sword in one hand and a book of verse in the other.” And as the bond grows between Gally and Ferney, Mike is upset immediately feeling on the defensive, irritated, and pushed out. And he is quite right to feel like that. Mike is a historian but he finds it hard to believe Ferney’s stories of the past and insists on having proof. The contrast between the two men is a focal point with Gally torn between the two of them.

I loved the way the narrative slips effortlessly from the past to the present as time slips for Gally and she finds herself reliving scenes from long ago. Just what effect does the cottage and the Bag Stone that stands outside have on their lives? And how will the relationship between Gally and Ferney be resolved? I just had to read on and on to find out. ( )

Absolutely brilliant book about reincarnation with a twist, a love story. ( )

By accident, Mike and Gally Martin stumble across a dilapidated house in the village of Penselwood, Somerset. Gally is immediately drawn to the property, and they buy it with the intention of refurbishing it and living there. However, they soon encounter an elderly man named Ferney, who knows all about the history of the house - and seemingly all about Gally.

There is an instant connection between Gally and Ferney, which he understands, but she struggles to do so. As she learns more about Ferney and about herself, she discovers that theirs is a story which transcends time, and she finds herself torn between her life with Mike and her attachment to Ferney.

I should mention that since finishing the book, I have read several reviews of it - most of them are glowing and extremely complimentary. However, I would hesitate to go that far. There was plenty to enjoy in the book - the writing itself was a joy to read, but the content sometimes let it down.

The main issue I had was that I could not feel any empathy or sympathy towards Gally or Ferney for their predicament. In any kind of love story it seems quite important to at least like the characters. However, I felt that Ferney was selfish and thoughtless, and Gally was exasperating.

There are some good points - there are a number of historical events vividly depicted in the book, and the village of Penselwood itself is made extremely easy to picture for someone who has never been there.

Overall, the idea was an interesting one. However, the story was a little slow moving for me - if the book had been about 100 pages shorter, it would have been more enjoyable. ( )

When Mike and Gally decide to buy a house in the country for the sake of Gally's delicate mental health she has definate ideas about where she wants to live. After a long and fruitless search of houses that are beautiful but somehow not quite right they accidentally stumble upon an old ruin in the Somerset Village of Penselwood and Gally insists that although it is a wreck it is the house of her dreams. So they buy it and move into a caravan on the grounds while the house is rebuilt. It is here that they meet Ferney for the first time, a local man in his 80's who seems unfriendly until he hears Gally's name and immediately takes to her while letting his dislike of her husband Mike show clearly. Gally is also drawn to Ferney, who's stories of the local area facinate her while frustrating historian Mike's sense of scholarly fact. Yet there is something strange about the link between Ferney and Gally and the house that is gradually taking shape. Builders find a stone half buried in the garden that Ferney insists must be set right and shows Gally a painting of the house and the way the stone should stand. He almost hypnotises her with history that he insists she remembers from many years before her birth and tells her stories of his missing and presumed murdered wife, a young woman named Gally whose body has never been found.

I enjoyed this book much more than I expected too and found myself really caught up in the historical stories that Ferney tells and Gally comes to believe she remembers. The idea behind the book has been written about many times but this particular telling is good and engaging, so it still seemed fresh.

I also liked the many local references as I used to live not too far from the village of Penselwood (or Pen Selwood as Ferney and Gally refer to it) and especially liked the mentioning of the Fleet Air Arm as it is the branch of the Royal Navy that my husband belongs to.

I probably wouldn't have bought this book normally but right before we moved away from Somerset I met the author at a library talk. He was mostly discussing the new book he has written with his son, Ben, a non-fiction work called The Plot Against Pepys, but he also discussed Ferney and his inspiration for the book whilst walking through the village of Penselwood. He was fascinating and entertaining to listen to and very kind and appreciative of the people who had come to see him. The Pepys book is on my wishlist and Ferney stuck in my mind, so when I saw it reissued I thought I would give it a go and I am very glad I did. James Long also writes as Will Davenport and was a former BBC correspondant. ( )