Customer Reviews

Triangulation

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You can expect more from Triangulation than what the blurb on the back of the book says. Its an interesting story of the intertwined lives of three young people in post-war England. Its provides an great historical setting. You feel as if you are living in the fall of the British colonialism. The details are amazing, but its really the character development that makes this book good. John, Helen and Laurance become so real that you are anticipating their next move. You're not surprised when they do what they do because you knew it was in them. Its amazing that an author so young could write a period piece like this.

I thought this was a really good read. It reminds me of Ian McEwan's novels (which have received huge acclaim Amsterdam: A Novel), but Triangulation is less heavy handed and more subtle but equally rich in style.

I was most struck by how Whitaker takes what would seem on the surface to be a bland central character (a retired cartographer) reminiscing about what, too on the surface, would seem as a bland era (the 1950's) and ends up developing very compelling characters, in a gripping, heart rendering story, that is revealed in what ends up being a rich historical setting.

His prose are tight while painting a vivid picture in each scene. There is a sort of humility in the style of writing, perhaps intentional or perhaps not, that works well with central character of the novel... making it seem all the more genuine.

I had read the Phoenix House edition that was first published in Great Britain that I bought when stuck in Heathrow airport waiting for a flight back to the States; what a pleasent surprise! A thrilling page turner like Grisham or Le Carre; it is not - but it kept me reading until I reached New York and turning the pages with an interest in the characters and story that stealthily and charmingly grew with each chapter.

I am glad that Triangulation got the wider publication I felt it deserved with the US edition.