Richard Ingrams
A new novel by Brian Moore is always something to look forward to. I devoured The Colour of Blood (Cape, £10.95) at a single gulp — a brilliant piece of writing which should of course have won the Booker Prize. I also greatly enjoyed Stray (Walker Books, £8.95) by my old friend A.N. Wilson. This is another adventure story, only not, like Brian Moore's, about a cardinal, but about a cat. Writing through the eyes of an animal gave Wilson the opportunity for a bit of Swiftian satire, which is his real forte (not sloppy love stories). A Life with Alan (Hamish Hamil- ton, £14.95), the diary of A. J. P. Taylor's Hungarian wife Eva, is a moving account of a love affair full of interesting and original observations about English socie- ty. It was less well received than it might have been because the publishers could not be bothered to edit it properly.
Previous page
