The Secret Intensity of Everyday Life

The British seem to do family dramas so well. Laura gets a letter from an old boyfriend. He wants to meet after all these years, but Laura is happily married with two children. Why is she even tempted to respond to this letter? There are many other mini-dramas in this small English village and Nicholson expertly draws the reader along as we get to peek in on their secret intensities. This is a compelling read that deals with the real life dramas of everyday people, and is not "chick-litty" in any way.

This book is not only about a woman whose ex-lover has reappeared in her life, as the front cover suggests. The book does start off with a chapter about the ex-lover getting in touch with Laura Broad, but this is actually a book about a Sussex village and its inhabitants, and takes place over the course of six days in 2000.

I felt it got off to a slow start, and I think that was because it was flitting around a bit and I didn't feel able to get my teeth into anybody's story. However, I quickly realised that this is a brilliantly written novel of life's dramas and mundanities, and I think the author did a very good job of interweaving many stories together. This is a book which creeps up on the reader and draws them in, and it certainly show more made me want to keep reading to the end to find out what happens to the characters.

I see that William Nicholson has a sequel coming out next month, and I'm really eager to read it.

I would definitely recommend it to anybody who likes a 'slice of life' story and a book where you care about the characters. show less

Every single chapter - no matter how short - was about a different character. Even around chapter 39 there were characters that I honestly didn't even recognize.
And the stories connected, but not enough to really justify the new-character-for-every-chapter jazz.

All in all, I was not a fan.

Another book I read at one go, virtually. On the train to London and on the way back the next day.

Enorme coup de coeur et magnifique découverte pour un roman qui l'air de rien vous bouscule et vous oblige à se poser quelques bonne questions fondamentales concernant ses relations de couple, sa sexualité, la religion et la foi, notre société de l'image, le culte du moi et de l'apparence, le dogme de la réussite professionnelle et du pouvoir de l'argent, la transformation de la société en une immense classe moyenne.

William Nicholson à partir de 12 vies quotidiennes, auscultées durant 6 jours du mois de mars, nous entraîne dans une montée progressive et inexorable d'une comédie familiale vers une douce tragédie de la vie. J'ai été conquis au fil des pages et enthousiasmé par le final.

L'auteur tisse une toile d'une show more sensibilité extraordinaire par court chapitre dans un style parfois vif et des phrases courtes parfois une écriture plus dense donnant le temps de la réflexion.

A noter l'excellente postface de la traductrice qui apporte un remarquable éclairage sur l'auteur et le roman.

Un roman qui continue de résonner longtemps après avoir tournée la dernière page.... magnifique ! show less