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A review by rollotreadway
How to Paint a Dead Man by Sarah Hall
3.0
An odd thing, this. Take, for example, one of the four interwoven stories: a grieving woman, who is having an affair. Like a thousand other literary characters, having an affair to deal with this or that or whatever. There is nothing in it at all unusual or distinctive, it follows the tramlines without diversion. When revelations come, they land softly and unremarkably.
Yet, for all that, it is a very elegantly shaped novel. Its writing draws you in, its style smoothes the passage from beginning to the end. I found myself very much wanting to continue, wanting to find such artful words eventually put to a greater purpose than run-of-the-mill stories. And, in the end, disappointed that they weren't.
Yet, for all that, it is a very elegantly shaped novel. Its writing draws you in, its style smoothes the passage from beginning to the end. I found myself very much wanting to continue, wanting to find such artful words eventually put to a greater purpose than run-of-the-mill stories. And, in the end, disappointed that they weren't.