Customer Reviews

In a Good Light

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A truly lovely read, I felt at one with the character. Delightful, bringing warmth into my heart and a smile to my lips as I turned each page.

A feel good, inspiring hope, soulful book!

This is a typical Clare Chambers book: first-person narrative that starts in the near-present, then leaps back into the early years of the protagonist, follows the story through the twists and turns of events, and then jumps back to the present to resolve the plot with a romantically pleasing conclusion in which the long-parted lovers are unexpectedly reunited and can find happiness in each other's arms at last. Although this formula might seem too predictable to be satisfying, Chambers' skill is in delineating the precise qualities of English middle-class life in such a way as to make them immediate for us. The modest eccentricities of the characters coupled to vivid descriptions of damp accommodations and shabby lives perfectly sum up a particular kind of English zeitgeist. It is this nostalgic but accurate portrayal of England in the 1980s that is the essence of Chambers' charm as a writer. She provides the same satisfaction, in this regard, as one derives from reading Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell. There is wry humor, pertinent observation, a delineation of contemporary moeurs, and an abiding optimism in the eternal verity of love. In addition there is never a wasted word, a clumsy phrase, or an inapposite observation. All is well-crafted and perfect. Reading a Chambers book is like gazing into a perfectly-formed dolls house: we gaze on the fixtures and fittings and feel the satisfaction of recognition, coupled to the charm of having everything in its place and tightly confined in a well-wrought structure. For those looking for gentle romance and the charm of love reconciled, all of her books are to be highly recommended.