There is a type of book that is just too romantic to be judged on the basis of the normal run of literature. The sort of book where a woman can see a man across a dance floor and know that he’s different. Where characters can be judged and lives risked on the strength of a couple of hours of drunken conversation. A tale that is just too silly to be true.
But if the book is well written, and the characters ring a bell in us, then we will accept every weird twist of fate and every unlikely coincidence, and just enjoy the hell out of reading it.
Davies builds this story up, layer by layer, sliding in one tried-and-true technique after another, until we are fully invested in the characters and their plight. We know that they are going to somehow make it through yet another hail of bullets, that they will escape the next round of capture, that some good-hearted local will give them the help they need and that they will somehow get to where they have to be in the nick of time.
We are so caught up in their story that we are just aching for the deus ex machina ending, especially since we were tidily prepared for it in a series of “Oh, that’s what it meant” moments that are so obvious in retrospect.
A thoroughly enchanting and entertaining novel. Highly recommended for anyone who just wants to have a fun read.
(5 / 5)