Reviews for Rough Music

The average rating for Rough Music based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-11-11 00:00:00 Jdawg Mc 4.5, rounded up. I initially had some trouble getting into this book, which I think was more due to personal crisis factors than any fault of the book itself, but once I hit the halfway mark, I couldn't put it down and read it literally non-stop till I finished. Even in this early book, Gale shows a mastery of prose style, complex plotting and deft characterization. The story alternates between two time periods set 32 years apart, and often in these types of novels (for example, in the recent - and excellent - 'The Great Believers'), one storyline will dominate and be of more interest than the other. Here though, both storylines are intriguing and one is never unclear where one is in the novel (it helps - and is very clever, that the protagonist is called by different names in each time frame). Although some of the revelations are not exactly bombshells, and have been foreshadowed long before they occur, everything fits beautifully. Gale has recently proved his skill as a screenwriter with the brilliant 'Man in the Orange Shirt', and this too would make an excellent film (which some would say is faint praise, but I mean it as a compliment.)

Review # 2 was written on 2020-12-31 00:00:00 Rod Rogers What a book. Patrick Gale writes so well and beautifully about family, childhood, love and memory. This was absolutely my kind of book.