Trespass

Rose Tremain sure knows how to write, her prose just takes you straight into the book   I enjoyed reading it because her style of writing is like an expensive and classy wine, but the writing couldn't quite disguise the after taste of a rather dull story.  All the characters in this novel were nasty and grim, and to be honest I wasn't really rooting for anyone to stay alive, apart from the young girl who appeared in Chapter One and then didn't materialise again until 200 pages later. 

I stayed with it because I just couldn't believe how awful the characters were and also, even though the modern day story was pretty dull, the history of each character was fascinating. Infact in places it was almost comic because everyone was so disturbed. I don't think that is what Rose Tremain intended.  In fact I think she was trying to write a 'deep' novel about all the ways you can trespass on land, people's emotions, their lives and their thoughts.  But I think what she intended to do and ultimately what she achieved were completely different.

This was a strange book for me because although I didn't like any of the characters I was able to understand exactly why they were behaving so badly because the psychological disection of each person was so clearly explained.  The whole book was dark and repressive with a constant presence of hatred and loathing.  Not a bundle of laughs at all but it was Rose Tremain's writing that held it all together. Some books you read are life affirming but this one sure wasn't.  It clearly showed people at their worst and the dark consequences of years of repression.