Reading matters

'The Other Side of You' by Salley Vickers

Fiction - paperback; Harper Perennial; 271 pages; 2007.

Salley Vickers' Miss Garnet's Angel was my favourite book of 2006 and so it was with some trepidation that I picked up The Other Side of You on a trip to Italy for some much-needed poolside reading: would it live up to expectations?

As you will see from the five-stars above, the answer was a resounding yes.

The tale is told from two perspectives: Dr David McBride, a psychiatrist, and his patient, Elizabeth Cruikshank, a failed suicide. Essentially it is a story about their relationship and how, over time, trust grows between them. But The Other Side of You also tackles some bigger, yet more subtle, themes, including how the decisions we make impact on the rest of our lives and how we never really know the people we are closest to.

'Miss Garnet's Angel' by Salley Vickers

Fiction - paperback; Harper Collins; 342  pages; 2000.

Set in contemporary Venice but with a decidedly old-fashioned ring to the writing style, Miss Garnet's Angel is one of the most delightful books I've ever read.

In this startling original debut novel by Salley Vickers we meet a just-retired school teacher who has lived a fairly staid and sedate life, a natural introvert who lacks self-confidence despite her fierce independence.

When her housemate of 30 years dies, Miss Garnet finds herself truly alone. When she takes an extended six-month trip to Venice, Italy, to come to terms with her loss little does she realise the changes -- spiritually, emotionally and mentally -- that she is about to undergo.

'Instances of the Number 3' by Salley Vickers

 Fiction - paperback; Harper Perennial; 307 pages; 2001.

Your 62-year-old husband dies in a car accident and then, not long afterwards, you make friends with his mistress. You also meet a young homeless friend of his for the first time and, taking pity on him, allow him to move into your home as a lodger-cum-housemaid. Meanwhile, you buy a house in the countryside, where you spend your weekends rediscovering life as a single woman while trying to come to terms with your loss. But when your husband reappears as a ghost, you begin to wonder if you might have lost the plot entirely...

This is a snapshot summary of Salley Vickers' delightful Instances of the Number 3, which is set in West London (Fulham and Turnham Green, to be precise) and Shropshire.