Gerontius

Rating:
Summary: Nuance and compassion in imaginary Elgar biography
Review: Music lovers as well as those who enjoy fine writing will find Hamilton-Paterson's imaginary account of a voyage up the Amazon by Edward Elgar not only entertaining and thought-provoking, but also ultimately very revealing of the contradictions and conflicts in Elgar's character. Hamilton-Paterson's research has been as thorough as his sympathy for his protagonist is obviously deep. This novel won the Whitbread prize for best first fiction

Rating:
Summary: Gerontius
Review: Wistful, poignant and beautifully written, this is a touching and elegaic novel. Blending fact with imaginary events, Hamilton Paterson takes an extraordinary, but true, event from Elgar's life and constructs around it a simple but fabulous narrative about a man at a creative crisis. Thoroughly enjoyable.