This story starts out with a bunch of
people attending a private gathering to pay their respects to Frank
the day before his military funeral at Arlington. However it quickly
becomes clear that this group of people have a tangled past of
secrets and experiences, tensions rise resulting in Franks pants
being pulled down on him whilst he lays in his coffin. From here the
story jumps back into the past, arriving in 1960 and follows the
story of several characters mentioned at the funeral, including Frank
himself. As time moves on, their lives intertwine in a mix of events
whilst historic world events occur around them such as Vietnam and
the JFK assassination.
Richard Sharp has fantastically
developed characters which evolve very realistically through their
stages of life, from youth to middle age and parenthood to
retirement. I found this interesting noting how some characters such
as Lillian, the wife of Frank change at a constant pace, whilst
others such as Ari stay the course and change very little of their
personality and goals. I think this book is very honest to human
life and the complexity of psychology and fate that falls upon us
all. Everything is described perfectly, the progression through eras
of time and the thought processes of all the individuals involved.
This was the first book I read that
was written by Richard Sharp and I have to say that I truly enjoyed
it, its got everything in it; wars, spies, love, lust, betrayal just
to mention a few themes. I think my favourite character by far was
Lillian, as she was a person lost in her actions driven by the ghosts
of her past, yet she found a way to change, to move beyond it, and
then to find Frank and be able to truly settle down possibly for the
first time in her life. I would recommend this to those readers
interested in the 60s 70s 80s and also to people who have an interest
in psychology. It was a great read.
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