What book are you reading atm??

Malari wrote: »

Ferney, by James Long.

I appreciate a lot of work went into the historical research for this novel, and the writing is quite beautiful at times, but I just couldn't get on board with the central love story. I didn't identify with the characters and

I found myself sympathising with the husband.

I don't think I'll bother with the sequel.

I absolutely LLLOVE that book!!! I read it back in 1998, mind you. I agree with what you're saying about , but I thought the story was so brilliant I was completely hooked (again, this was 20 years ago).

The sequel ("The Lives She Left Behind"), which is set something like 15 years later (I can't remember exactly), answers some of the questions left from "Ferney" and is one of those books you can't stop reading, it's written beautifully and is very well structured, and again the historical part is very well researched, too, but I felt disappointed by the ending, I felt like James Long wanted to put a very definite stop to any chance of a further volume - to me it sounded like the editors forced him to write it - either that or he got fed up and put those characters behind him ages before he had finished to write the sequel.

James Long (who has also written a couple of books along the same lines under the pseudonym Will Davenport - "The Sinner" and "The Painter", if I remember correctly), used to be a BBC journalist. His first few novels were mostly crime/thrillers/espionage type of things, but he has an obvious passion for history. He has also co-written "The Plot Against Pepys" with his historian son Ben Long .

He's one of my favourite authors (and I don't even like history).