If Nobody Speaks Of Remarkable Things

Jon McGregor

Editions

Review

As quite often happens here, it was a customer of ours who alerted me to this superb first novel – I subsequently noticed the excellent reviews, but it was not until I went on holiday armed with the paperback edition that I had the chance to put the recommendation to the test.

The female narrator is remembering a terrible event that took place some years ago in the North of England town where she was a student.  She presents each of the key players in this drama, all of them residents of the same street, and there is an acute sense of foreboding.  For even though the reader knows from the start that something is going to happen, it is not quite clear what it is.  In addition, there is a parallel story in the present day, which also has a mysterious and unpredictable side.  Both strands coincide eventually, at a startling conclusion.

Jon McGregor’s writing has a hypnotic quality, and I found this book utterly engrossing.  I certainly won’t wait for a holiday to read his next novel. - review by Dan Fenton