Past Caring

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Why only three stars then? Well, as much as I enjoyed this book, it wasn't without flaws, the principle flaw being the pacing.

From a collection of more than 20 mystery thrillers, that will indeed enthrall and satisfy you as a lover of such genre, to unprincipled chicanery and unforgiven betrayals as well as unforgotten jealousy, are just but part of the infinite capacity of imagination and intrigues that Robert Goddard books will present to you. Basically, Robert novels and especially his thrillers do have a historical settings and elements staged in some provincial English towns and cities bringing in a number of plots twists.Plus, his books always involve the lead character, gradually unraveling a conspiracy which for a very long time been kept as a secret, and through means of historical documents like the diaries or simply by word of mouth testimonies that have been handed down from one individual to another. At one point of this story, the protagonist is advised “nothing is as it seems”. That is a vast understatement in this tangled web of deceit, double-dealing and revenge. As with my prior outing with Goddard, I must work at not giving away any of the plot as spoilers would be difficult to avoid. Suffice it to say that there are few truly good people involved, and they are put upon badly by the self-serving villains whose bad deeds flow into and escalate over six decades, erupting when a young history researcher is given a commission to look into a memoir found in an old villa. The narrative is liberally dotted with familiar names from Edwardian parliamentary politics, and I did have to pay attention to keep up with political issues that I had only a passing familiarity with. So, for the first half of the book one is continually wondering what revelation could possible cause her (and Asquith) to behave in the way they did, and for the second half one is incredulous at the frankly bizarre and insipid behaviour of two people supposedly deeply in love.

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Combines the expert suspensemanipulation skills of a Daphne DuMaurier romance with those of a John Le Carre thriller.” New York Times Into the Blue was adapted for television in 1997 and starred John Thaw in the lead role of Harry Barnett. Robert Goddard was not impressed with the adaptation. In an interview, he said "The TV version of Into the Blue was a travesty of the story I wrote and I am determined that any future adaptations should be more faithful to the original". blazing eyes' from various personalities either in passion or in anger. Apart from these lapses, it's a good read. Combines the expert suspense manipulation skills of a Daphne DuMaurier romance with those of a John Le Carre thriller.” New York Times

This is a book that doesn't neatly fit a genre. It follows the story of a man who is in the English cabinet before WW1 who falls in love with a suffragette. He mysteriously loses his job and his fiancee and never finds out why. His colleagues wont speak to him and the girl immediately leaves the country.

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Although I enjoyed this book immensely, it was let down by the absurdity of it's main premise: That two people who were very much in love could be broken up by a lie, in the way it was presented here. Past Caring was nominated for the Booker Prize and author Robert Goddard is the winner of the WHSmith Thumping Good Read Award and the CWA Diamond Dagger. Many years ago, when I was a teenager, my father read this book and was very moved by the story. I read it too, and like the Hardy poem the author quotes, I've felt haunted by this story for a long time, even after forgetting the name of the book and the names of the main characters.

I have read a few Goddard's novels now and have enjoyed them all and this is no exception. There is a reason though for the three stars rather than four. Let me explain. The setting and concept are interesting. I always love a story within a story and with Stafford's Memoir we get exactly that. The parts of the book set in 1910, even though they do not concern real people, ring true and conjured Edwardian London in all of its tumultuous glory. For me, Martin's part of the story read a little historical as well, as it's set two years before I was born. It was funny to read about a world where not only did not everyone have a mobile phone, but not everyone had a land line either. The juxtaposition between the contemporary feel of the narrative and those reminders that this was 1977 instead of 2007, never once truly jarred me out the story, it is more a testament to Mr Goddard's wonderful writing.Why did I think it was important to read this book again? Because my feelings about it have remained unresolved for two decades. How could a man so good, kind, and noble as Edwin be so betrayed? What kind of love does not even give the benefit of the doubt, does not even offer the chance for an explanation? So for the second time, I've read this book and my feelings remain unresolved. After this second read, I'm angry at all the characters for what they did to Edwin, and for thinking that any of the fruits of those betrayals were worth protecting. I hate that people kept preying on Edwin's goodness and his love for Elizabeth, and it tears me apart that someone he loved so much never even stopped to ask herself 'what if.'

The narration is steady and clear and helps keep the plot focussed. This story is long so is good value for money and the ending is unexpected so you keep going all the way to the last few minutes.About three times during this book I found myself feeling that it was starting to drag. Each time, Goddard broke this feeling with a series of twists and revelations that nearly floored me on occasion, but I still feel this book could have done with a stricter editorial hand at the rudder. You could take virtually any passage from this book and it would read really well on its own, so I understand why you wouldn't want to cut any of it, but when you've got a pacing problem it's time to kill your darlings.