In this book, all relationships are doomed. Futh has a loveless marriage with Angela who, we assume, cheats on him. Ester, his hotel-keeper, cheats on Bernard. Futh's mum leaves Futh's dad. Futh's dad, who is boring, drunk and violent, hooks up with Gloria, whose husband left her. I cannot recall anyone happy in the book.
The prose is taut. Many things are left unsaid. This makes the reader fill in the gaps, often to discover later that the gaps have been filled incorrectly. Lighthouses permeate the book. Significant events are replayed over and over again. And the book heads to an inevitable doom (we assume, this is another gap which we fill in).
Miserable but rather well written, this book was a worthy Booker shortlist in 2012 losing to Hilary Mantel with Bring Up The Bodies. February 2013; 183 pages
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