Reservoir 13 (England)

Started: Sep 19, 2017

Finished: Nov 11, 2017

Setting: England

Kindle - 340 pages 

The story starts with the disappearance of a 13-year old girl. The girl's name was Rebecca, or Becky, or Bex. She had been looked for everywhere. But lest you think this is a story about Becky's disappearance, or how she disappeared (was she abducted; did she runaway; did she get lost in the surrounding woods; was she murdered; did she fall into one of the reservoirs surrounding the town?) it's not. Instead, the book revolves around the effect Becky's disappearance has on the people of the village and the village itself.

We meet and slowly become acquainted with several residents of the village. And slowly, like an onion, layers are peeled back to reveal more about them, their lives, their hopes and dreams. The seasons pass, people grow older, decisions are made, events happen and still, Becky is not found though she is remembered. Life goes on. For the residents of the village, Becky's parents, the village itself. Everyone but Becky.

The book is divided into 13 chapters, each chapter covering Becky's disappearance and the other 12 cover a year that has passed since Becky's disappearance. I enjoyed this literary device by the author (if it is a literary device) and found it a clever way to show the passage of time. However, until I got used to the writing style, I did find the first few chapters difficult to enjoy. Too many story lines packed into each paragraph.

Speaking of time, it should not have taken me almost 2 months to finish this book. It's not that long of a book, and the chapters are not particularly long - at least not longer than average. So why did it take me so long? In part, I found the writing style difficult to get used to. While he uses complete sentences and correct punctuation, his style (at least in this book) is to have a single paragraph address multiple topics or characters or events. It takes a bit of getting used to. And as a result, I could not read it for more than 1 chapter (or less) at a time. A paragraph might start with information about one character and two sentences later, in the same paragraph, another unrelated character would be mentioned. It flowed, sometimes too quickly and I didn't always feel like I was given a chance to really get to know a character. [I read someone else's review of this book (maybe on Goodreads?) and the reviewer stated that this may have been a device by the author, to show that life in a village goes by quickly - people move from one activity to another.] Perhaps.

I wanted to read this book since it was up for the Man Booker prize. Should it have been nominated? The author is English and in some ways the writing style reminded me of Ian McEwan, another English writer whose work I have read - full disclosure: only 1 book - Atonement. Not sure if that is a fair or apt comparison, but there it is. In some ways this book was a bit of a disappointment. I knew that Becky's disappearance would not be solved but I still wanted that to happen. And again, it comes back to the writing style.Not my most favorite. But, it was a Man Booker. So, would I read another book by this author? Yes, I think I would try one more book. But not right away. I think I need to read a mystery novel, one where the disappearance of a main character gets solved.