Pieces of Light

► AdamThorpe's extraordinary third novel... In 1929, at the age of seven, Hugh has lived only at his parents' administrative outpost in Cameroon; comfortable in thick mangrove's tangled foliage, he is reluctantly moved to England...His uncle’s estate in Ulverton is as alien to Hugh as Africa was to his parents, with comparable dangers. When he returns there as an old man, Hugh finds the place still has its mysteries, with which his own reminiscences gradually become entangled as shocking events build to murder and a devastating revelation. ◄ Ben Walters, Evening Standard ► Thorpe subtly takes on the two huge public and historical themes of colonialism and war alongside his affecting and sometimes unbearably poignant human story...again proving himself astute and inventive as well as a skilled writer. ◄ Nicholas Wroe, Guardian ► PIECES OF LIGHT has his richness of ideas, with a memorable vision of Englishness at its centre ◄ Philip Hensher, Mail on Sunday ► A work of quite extraordinary richness and subtlety...A thriller of the first order. It is also a finely metaphysical work... PIECES OF LIGHT will be recognised for the masterpiece it is. ◄ John Burnside, Scotsman ► Ghost story, thriller, travelogue, epistolary episodes of pathos, Thorpe, unfazed, commands them all. PIECES OF LIGHT is as fine a book as I’ve read this year and Thorpe’s best yet. ◄ Tom Adair, Scotland on Sunday * Hugh Arkwright's remote childhood in the Central African bush, and its sudden disruption, leaves him with a legacy of magic, mystery, and tragic loss. Late in his life, he returns to the gaunt house in Ulverton where he was brought up by his eccentric uncle, and finds that the old ghosts still walk. The more he excavates his own past, the deeper he finds the traces of ancient horrors. The autumnal air of Ulverton begins to take on the taint of corruption, and a mystery starts that ends with vengeance, murder and a sudden, staggering revelation. The mild English manners of the village of darkness beneath the heart of oak. PIECES OF LIGHT is a modern novel steeped in a resonant past; where rural England and colonial Africa collide. Densely wrought and vividly imagined, Adam Thorpe's return to Ulverton is a fictional triumph - thrilling and unforgettable. * First published 1998 by Jonatahan Cape