The last of the long-listed Man Booker finalists from 2010 that I read (just in time to start on the list for 2011), and I did so while I was in London, which surprisingly added to the atmosphere of both the book and the place.
This is the diary of loss. A young woman lost her husband in an accident at sea. The story is told when she is in middle age, with her children grown, yet it is steeped in that moment in all their lives. It is mournful in a way that isn't depressing but rather buoyant at the same time. Cal, the lost husband and father, did not leave behind the feeling that others should suffer because of his loss. So while the family doesn't move beyond it--and have significant issues with intimacy as a result--neither do they dwell on his death. It is just there. They can't help but trip over it all the time. It is a beautifully written book that unfolds the layers of effect that such a dramatic loss can have, and shows quite subtly how that will ripple into the next generation.
Why did I like this so much? I think because it demonstrates the inevitability that trauma has an effect--you can't expect to go back to a tie when it hasn't happened. But you can go on to a place that is good.
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