Customer Reviews

Falling (Windsor Selection)

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I haven't heard the tapes, but I've read the book. I couldn't find a listing for the book, so I'm putting my review here.

I can just imagine those fine actors, Alan Bates and Dianna Quick giving these characters voice - Bates, especially, is perfect casting.

Henry is in his 60s, without financial means, and caretaking a small houseboat on one of England's canals. He sees himself as handsome, charming and sexually gifted - a real ladies man. He thinks he knows what women want and does his best to give it to them, but on the wrong side of 60 and with little money, his opportunities are limited. Without a partner, and burnt by experiences from lonely hearts columns, he refuses to give up, and sets his requirements down on paper. However, on a walk to the village for provisions, he notices a local cottage has been bought by a reasonably attractive woman of mature years with, most importantly, obvious signs of money. Successfully offering his services as a gardener, then caretaker of the cottage when Daisy's work takes her to America for some months, he immediately begins planning a strategy to make Daisy's money his. He rearranges his life story in a way that he thinks will make Daisy sympathetic to him, and slowly, relentlessly inveigles her into his web of deceit and lies.

Written in alternate chapters from both Henry's and Daisy's viewpoint, we read of him setting his bait, then her unknowingly taking it, then his derision of her neediness. We find out about Henry's past, or rather, the past he prefers to remember. We find out about Daisy, her two failed marriages, her estrangement from her daughter and her unexpected success as a playwright.

Despite being badly let down by two husbands, Daisy allows herself to be drawn in by what she sees as his selflessness, caring, admiration, and sexual prowess, not realising that it's all a calculated act. But fortunately for her, she's not without friends, and even though Henry eventually has her in his thrall, they are not so easily deceived.

I almost put this book down several times. I had a sour taste in my mouth most of the time I was reading - I felt something nasty was going to happen and I wasn't sure I wanted to know about it. It didn't quite happen that way, due to the intervention of people who really loved Daisy, but this could so easily be the story of many people looking for love. Beware of con-men with good stories, listen to your friends, and trust your initial instincts - all advice Daisy could have used.