16/04/15: Dominic Cooper – The Dead of Winter (1975)

Set in the remote Scottish island village of Cragaig, this short novel has an elemental power that the author draws from his profound descriptions of weather and landscape. Fisherman Alasdair Mòr has hung on to a traditional way of life that has vanished around him, and seems content leading a solitary life in harmony with nature. Then a newcomer arrives and changes everything.

Cooper writes with real intensity. His descriptions of the sea and land are beautiful, but never merely decorative. It is a book that will stay with me.

05/04/15: Tim Parks – Europa (1997)

Booker Prize-shortlisted, Europa is a ferociously intelligent and witty novel. The brilliantly sustained first-person stream-of-consciousness narration comes from Jerry Marlow, who – struggling with a mid-life crisis of sorts – finds himself on a coach to Strasbourg with other Milan University staff (including a woman with whom he had recently had an intense affair) to petition the European Parliament about employment rights.

The characters are extremely well drawn. You can read this as political satire and/or as a study of excruciating human situations. I was sorry when it ended and am now keen to try out more by this author.