"No One Home" by Tim Weaver.

Although he is a popular author, none of us had previously read any of his books. The premise was original and intriguing but despite the promising start, several of us found the book hard going. Negative comments included ‘too much description’, ‘didn’t like his style’, ‘confusing’, ‘a patchwork of crime’ ‘too long’ and ‘formulaic’. Plus, the author was found guilty of ‘mansplaining’! The plot consisted of two parallel stories set in different countries and times, which many of us found difficult. We knew the stories would eventually tie up, but we felt it took too long before we discovered how they were linked. Despite the negative comments, the majority of us wanted to know what had happened and why, which kept us gripped until the end. Several of us would like to try his first novel in the series to see whether we bonded more with his main character.

Three very definite thumbs down, and the thumbs up were rather lukewarm.

On 17 October we will be discussing ‘The Remains of the Day’ by Kazuo Ishiguro.