Just as good as his previous book...that and more...1 Question stays with you throughouth the beginning to the middle of the book - Is the mystrious man a Vampire? well that was my question that then they started to have "meetings" in the day time - so there goes the Vampire theory.
Fabulously written...very descriptive - you can imagine the big old manager at the Newspaper - you can imagine the croocks for whom the books was written for in under a hidden name.
You can imagine his life when Isabella moved in....could you feel the attraction? How hard Isabella worked to attain adulthood...why is she looking for his undivided attention? Does she love him, or love his work?
The old Tower house where they live... you can imagine the cobblestones underfoot... the drinks in the cafe's and the bookshop where he "grew-up" with the bookseller's son hiding behind some partition his face always only seen at a weird angle...the portrait of a young man caught in his fathers shadow...but too pathetic to stand up for himself. You can see the bookseller aging, glaring watery-eyed at his son....as the last of his energy runs away slowly...
The plans being put into place to help the bookseller to move on to the next life in peace...
The tram scuttling along the pavement over hills and into dead streets... with the writers face clamped against a dirty tram window...his eyes looking out but seeing nothing...
One of the most impressive piece of narritive in this book would be the part where the David Martin goes to see the lawyer to find out about the Tower House...where he looked up at the portrait of the lawyer's deceased father...you could almost feel the painting talk to you..
Isabella's good coffee and cigars.....
The scene where Daniel's love drowns herself and she is glyding below the surface of the ice and smiling at her.
The end is a bitter twist - you put the book down and you hunger for another chapter, another page - but in all fairness the book has gone full circle - but its not explained where & when and why? Why the boss? What happens to him now? Did he made DM go mad, to kill his love and then give him back his love? Its a weird book.
What about the stuffed dolls? Why was Daniels' Doll not finished?
Quotes: (in my own words)
After Christina got injected with something to calm her down - her eyes lost emotion and glazed over like dull mirrors.
I need to go to Barcelona....
