The Light of Day

Title: The Light of Day

Author: Graham Swift

Number of pages: 332

Started: 20 January 2008

Finished: 24 January 2008

Opening words:

Something's come over you." That's what Rita said, over two years ago now, and now she knows it wasn't just a thing of the moment.

Something happens. We cross a line, we open a door we never knew was there. It might never have happened, we might never have known. Most of life, maybe, is only time served.

Morning traffic in Wimbledon Broadway. Exhausts steaming. I turn the key in the street door, my own breath coming in clouds.

"Something's come over you, George."

But she knew even before I did. She's not in this job for nothing, she can pick up a scent. And soon she's going to leave me, any day now, I can tell. I can pick up a scent as well.

She's here before me of course. When isn't she? She doesn't sleep these days, she says. "These days" have lasted years. Always awake with the dawn, so why not? Always something to be done. And I pitch up after her. Boss's privilege. Though it's not yet half-past eight, and last night I was out on a job till gone two. And today's a special day.

Plot summary:

Sarah is in prison. Every fortnight she is visited by George, the private eye she employed to observe the final stage of her husband's affair. The visits - and the days between - lead George back into Sarah's past and into events he can picture only too well, while bringing him ever closer to a time he can't quite imagine - when she will once again step out into the clear light of day...This is a brilliant tale of love, murder and suspense, from one of Britain's finest writers.

Synopsis taken from Amazon.

What I thought:

A reasonable read. I had perhaps hoped to enjoy it more and I am never sure how much I like books written in the present tense. It was ok though.