This was my fourth Murdoch, so I'm now becoming used to the Murdoch world and know what to expect. This has the usual interesting tangle of upper middle class relationships and the usual slightly claustrophobic theatrical air of a world that is not supposed to be strictly realistic. It has a timeless air about it and seems as if it is set much earlier in the twentieth century. Murdoch takes you on a detailed, in-depth exploration of her characters' thoughts, fears and attitudes in a way that becomes addictive. To write in this way demands authorial stamina and the sort of intense concentration that you can feel radiating up from the page.
This book satisfied a long-held longing to understand our very beginnings. He is honest about the fact that there are certain questions that the experts do not agree on and theories that are as yet conjectural. I was fascinated to read of the recent scientific work: eg the analysis of the plaque coating Neanderthal teeth. I learned so much in the course of this book. I'd had no idea that there had been so many varieties of hominid and that we are descended from just one of many prototypes. I had not known that Neanderthals had cooked some of their food. The vast expanses of time discussed here fill me with wonder, especially as I am used to dating everything within the old method of… Read more
To sum it up: impossibly graceful miner meets impossibly stupid woman. Too many unbelievable things to make it hang together. Colin Farr is a nasty piece of work, but the historically sceptic Ellie Pascoe can't see this. I think the problem is that Reginald Hill doesn't understand women at all, nor does he see the need to maintain consistency in his characters' personalities. For purposes of the plot Ellie has been reduced to a sheltered thirteen year old with a wild crush who cannot get a grip on the unfamiliar fact of suddenly having hormones. Farr has adorable blond curls and the grace of a gazelle. As so many Yorkshire miners do. Following a sexual assault by this Apollo of the… Read more
