Comment

Dec 28, 2017wyenotgo rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
This book runs to 731 pages, spanning 4 continents over a period roughly from 1848 to 1885, along with a brief epilogue set in 1913. As a rule, I avoid "sweeping" epics, usually finding them to be long-winded and self-indulgent, in need of some judicious editing. And yet at no point did this book seem long. Every page held my attention throughout. Price combines the social insight of a Charles Dickens, the gritty realism of a David Hosp, the storytelling scale of a Guy Vanderhaeghe. He conjures up 1885 London in all its filth, misery, poverty and chaos; choking in its own effluent, shivering in its grimy winter fog. The stink of the place oozes out of the pages. Sweatshops, slaughterhouses, taverns, all heated and powered by coal; half-lit, muddy streets beset by hordes of ragged urchins, sailors, whores and beggars. Prices's two main protagonists, the relentless Pinkerton and his elusive quarry Shade drive the narrative: Love, treachery, loyalty, loss, vengeance; the very stuff of life. Regarding price's style: His rich, free-flowing language bears the mark if a poet. The total absence of quotation marks is at first disconcerting. But one becomes accustomed to it and I discovered that the effect was to blend dialogue seamlessly into the stream of narrative. Price has a remarkable facility for conveying the ambiguities of human motivation and relationships. Although there are certainly crimes committed here, there are neither pure villains nor admirable heroes, just imperfect humans who fall victim to their own misplaced loyalties and stubborn passions. Highly recommended!