Past Caring

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I have something to tell you. It is a life and death matter and it concerns the central question of your life that you have spent years slowly destroying yourself over. Also, this involves the Prime Minister and his family and I think someone is following me."

Past Caring - Historical Novel Society Past Caring - Historical Novel Society

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.

I've just read this book for the second time and I have to single it out for a special recommendation. It is absolutely brilliant. Evocative of places I love - Madeira and Devon. Craftily hinged around historical detail. Amazingly cleverly plotted and so gripping I didn't want to go out!

Robert Goddard - Book Series In Order Robert Goddard - Book Series In Order

As he does so smoothly and so well (Out of the Sun, etc.), Goddard again creates a narrator who uncovers secrets buried in the past that cast grim shadows on later generations. Here he takes classic Continue reading » Goddard's 1990 book Into the Blue was the inaugural winner of the W H Smith Thumping Good Read Award, presented to the best new fiction author of the year. One of the rare books that gave me 'book daze' for several hours after it ended. A masterpiece of its kind - and an author who can seamlessly weave Hardy's poetry and Jacobean tragedy allusions into a brisk narrative without the blessedly unencumbered (and wiser for it) ignorati noticing a thing. Such a light touch you immediately trust the writer and allow a few suspensions of disbelief. Perhaps for me, that's my sign of a great book or a great 'read'. I'm forgiving and trustful and allow myself to be swept away rather than antagonistic and 'demanding' to be won over.Combines the expert suspense manipulation skills of a Daphne DuMaurier romance with those of a John Le Carre thriller.” New York Times Past Caring is full of unforeseen surprises, a story of secrets and the far-reaching consequences of decisions made on a whim. Martin Radford is a floundering, unemployed historian with a dim future who jumps at the chance to research the memoirs of Edwin Strafford, a young Edwardian cabinet minister and contemporary of Churchill and Lloyd George with a promising career that went mysteriously astray. Radford’s own blunders will unfold on this journey as he investigates Strafford’s past in this blended mix of politics, romance and historical thriller.

Past Caring by Robert Goddard: 9780385341172

Into the Blue (May 1990), ISBN 0-593-01808-7. (Harry Barnett, Book 1) (adapted as a TV film in 1996 starring John Thaw)I was immersed in this throughout the month of August. It’s a compelling read about how an unemployed history teacher takes on an assignment of historical research into the life of former Home Secretary Edwin Strafford, at the time of the Suffragettes, and how hidden events surrounding his resignation reverberate with force a lifetime later. A great book with satisfying resolutions to the story threads. Not a patch on “In Pale Battalions”, the only other book by Goddard I have read. An unlikeable narrator, a very complex plot, a femme fatale who is ludicrously brilliant and beautiful and sexy and bad news for our narrator. It was Goddard’s first book and has some good things in it in terms of the plot, but some of the characters are more than a little unbelievable. Oh, and there’s an embarrassingly bad sex scene too. This 1986 Booker prize-nominated novel is a rewarding reading experience. It’s Goddard’s first published novel, which makes the Booker feat even more impressive. The expert suspense-manipulation skills of a Daphne du Maurier romance meets a John le Carre thriller is how the New York Times reviewer put it. In summary a very clever writer who creates intriguing plots and interesting characters. Look forward to acquiring and reading more. Goddard's excellent line of British psychological thrillers gets its long-deserved christening from an American publisher with this novel, to be released simultaneously with Continue reading »

Robert Goddard Books | Waterstones Robert Goddard Books | Waterstones

Goddard's 1997 book Beyond Recall was nominated for the Edgar Award Best Novel prize but lost out to Mr. White's Confession by Robert Clark. Distinguished MP Edwin Strafford resigns at the pinnacle of his career, removing himself from the public eye. The woman he loves, and for whom he was willing to sacrifice everything, suddenly and coldly rejects him. All the reasons for his fall from grace are shrouded in darkness. In a suspenseful, classy narrative that affords first-rate entertainment, a young English schoolteacher, Heather Mallender, vanishes on the Greek island of Rhodes. With her at the time was Harry Continue reading »Past Caring is lengthy, but that is because it has to fit in the diaries of a long dead British minister as well as the historical research of the less than ideal Martin Radford. Radford is a failed academic and teacher who seems to enjoy drink more than books. A chance visit to Madeira leads him to hunt down the story of Edwin Strafford, a rising political star in 1910 who disappeared from politics for mysterious reasons. As he digs deeper, Radford finds that there are those who wish to keep the story buried along with Strafford. I’ve read Robert Goddard’s Long Time Coming which I also recommend. I am looking forward to reading more of his entertaining and thought-provoking novels.