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Bought to read!

Synopsis from Amazon:-
'A young man is fighting for his life. Into his room walks a bewitching woman who believes she can save him. Their journey will have you believing in the impossible. The nameless and beautiful narrator of The Gargoyle is driving along a dark road when he is distracted by what seems to be a flight of arrows. He crashes into a ravine and wakes up in a burns ward, undergoing the tortures of the damned. His life is over – he is now a monster. But in fact it is only just beginning. One day, Marianne Engel, a wild and compelling sculptress of gargoyles, enters his life and tells him that they were once lovers in medieval Germany. In her telling, he was a badly burned mercenary and she was a nun and a scribe who nursed him back to health in the famed monastery of Engelthal. As she spins her tale, Scheherazade fashion, and relates equally mesmerising stories of deathless love in Japan, Greenland, Italy and England, he finds himself drawn back to life – and, finally, to love.'

There is a lot to like about this book. It was a lot easier 'read' than I had envisaged, considering the cover and the black edged pages, not to mention the subject matter. I loved the stuff about the treatment of burns although some of it sent my stomach into unpleasant spasms. I think Davidson managed the sad, dark and grisly parts of the tale better than he did the romantic themes. It's anothe one of these time shift books (so many around at the monent): it's not a device I particularly like but here it works. I liked the anonymous central character but for me Mariannne was not so successful. The are many levels on which to engage with this novel and a lot of clever writing, but the book still moves on at a good pace throughout. I can see that some readers might be discouraged by the first couple of chapters - I did wonder what I was letting myself in for for a while. My advice is to stick with it and ignore the 50 page rule for once. I loved a lot of the elemental imagery and the way he brings in the various motifs from time to time. For a first novel this is very impressive stuff. I can't say that this was the best thing I have ever read, or even that it is in the top 10, but it was a good read all the same and i would encourage you to give it a go. Taking it to Meet as I'm sure I will be able to talk someone into it!!

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

I hope this is not a lonely heart - it does not deserve that fate!

I really had no expectations of this when I started it - I liked the look of the cover, thought it looked a bit historical and liked the title. So when I started and it seemed to be turning into a story about a man who suffers terrible burns in a drug and drink fed car accident I was surprised. However I thought it was well written, and was intrigued as to where it would go, and I was soon gripped - not because a lot happened, but because every time I thought I knew what was happening something unexpected was dropped in. I loved the almost Scheherezade like story telling which intersperses the narrative. The most interesting book I've read for a while - I was sorry when it finished.

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Releasing at the Leeds Bookcrossers Meetup.

Glad to found it. Looking forward to read it.

This book spent on my bookshelf for few years. Time to took it out to read. It was okay but it can be dragging.
The part which I enjoyed was different storytelling from Marianna.
Time to release this book to someone.