This second of what was to become an autobiographical trilogy by Richard Church takes us from the struggling teenager to the young man of 1920.
This is an honest and insightful journey demonstrating the changes in relationships following grief and its consequent collapse of a loving home; a sacrifice imposed by family circumstances; the conflicts between desire for life in the arts and the need to secure an income; the pain of first love; the importance of friendships and encouragement; how the nature of parental relationships affects our later choices.
Church’s poetic descriptions of his surroundings and events are a delight. He enjoys simile, metaphor, alliteration, and other wordplay. Sequences are both excruciatingly painful and wryly humorous.
Our author is a master of sentence length conveying the essence of his narrative, be they long or short.
Attuned to music and the sounds of nature as he is, this reader can imagine the prose read aloud. His study and knowledge of the painterly arts is detailed.
Once again, I hope to leave the specific elements of the story to readers I have been able to entice into his world.
Despite what is written about conclusion on this jacket, there is another part to the tale which I will begin to read later.
The delicious ambiguity of the title and the fact that it is written by an Englishman seems like a good omen. This is another excellent book review, Derrick.
Thank you very much, Pat
I concur that this is an enticing book review: I plan to look out for a copy while going through the books donated to the Hospice Shop.
Thank you very much, Anne
An enticing review!
Thank you very much, Merril 🙂
It sounds fascinating.
Thank you very much, Lakshmi
I enjoy your book reviews, Derrick. Both author and book sound interesting.
Thanks very much, Lavinia
great review, Derrick! sounds fascinating! 🙂
Thanks very much, Wilma
Sounds quite interesting.
Thanks very much, Dolly
You are very welcome, Derrick.
Almost as good as the first. I can almost “see” you reaching for book #3 as soon as this one was put down.
Thanks very much, Crystal. I did
Thank you for sharing your review! So glad you got to read this book, #2, and will begin #3!
As you know, I enjoy Mr. Church’s poems. He does have such a wonderful way with weaving words.
Sounds like an interesting and very-well-written bio. 🙂
(((HUGS))) ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Much appreciated, Carolyn X
Thanks for the review, Derrick. This sounds like a good read.
Much appreciated, Rosaliene
You’ve succeeded admirably in your goal to write an enticing review.
Thank you very much, Liz
You’re welcome, Derrick.
“the conflicts between desire for life in the arts and the need to secure an income…” Oh, how I identify with this. Sounds like such an interesting book.
Thank you so much, Laurie. That resonated with me, too.
It sounds like you really enjoyed this book.
I certainly did. Thanks very much, Robbie