Description

Bittersweet and startling, A SWEET OBSCURITY is a multi-stranded novel of childhood, coming of age and the heartbreaking consequences of family life in disarray…

‘Intriguing and impressive. A memorable study of a child forced cruelly, even tragically, to grow up too soon’ Sunday Times

Since her mother’s death, nine-year-old Dido has been living with her eccentric aunt, acting as peacekeeper between Eliza, her estranged husband Giles and his girlfriend. They are each cruelly burdened in different ways. Chance draws them down to Cornwall, where a country idyll offers to lighten their urban cares.

Then Eliza falls in love with local farmer, Pearce, an event that causes the four adults to re-assess their lives, with some painful and unforeseen consequences for adults and child alike…

‘Gale’s talent is undeniable’ Guardian

What readers loved about A SWEET OBSCURITY:

‘Patrick Gale writes fiction which totally absorbs the reader by creating characters that you feel you know. The richness of his writing and the depth of his storylines make each book compulsive reading’

‘Something, anything, by Patrick Gale would definitely be on my Desert Island Books list, but A Sweet Obscurity is the one I go back to most often’

Publisher Review

It amuses, startles and occasionally bewilders. A Sweet Obscurity is worth every minute of your time * Independent * A rich comedy of sexual and familial confusions...a rare and welcome fictional voice * The Times * Flawless * TLS * Intriguing and impressive. A memorable study of a child forced cruelly, even tragically, to grow up too soon * Sunday Times *