Density of a Dream

The Book of Evidence 

by John Banville

“I was estranged from myself and all that I had once supposed I was. My life up to now had only the weightless density of a dream. When I thought about my past, it was like thinking of what someone else had been—someone I had never met but whose history I knew by heart. It all seemed no more than a vivid fiction." ― John Banville, The Book of Evidence




This book introduced me to John Banville, one of my favorite writers, even though it is not my favorite of his novels. The story is told by 38-year-old scientist Freddie Montgomery, who kills a servant girl while trying to take a painting from a neighbor. Freddie is an aimless drifter, and though he is a perceptive observer of himself and his surroundings, he is largely amoral. In addition to recounting his life story, he is an untrustworthy narrator who describes how he was arrested for the murder of a servant girl in one of Ireland's "big houses." After running afoul of a gangster in the Mediterranean, Freddie, a sophisticated but slouched Anglo-Irish scientist who has lived overseas for many years, returns to his ancestral home in search of money. Shocked to discover that his mother has sold the family's collection of paintings, Freddie attempts to recover them. This leads to a tragic series of events culminating in Freddie's killing of a maid while stealing a painting. On the run, he hides out in the house of an old family friend, Charlie, a man of some influence, before being arrested and interrogated.

Because Banville, like Ford Madox Ford, has cleverly constructed a novel about sex, betrayal, and self-deception—a novel whose narrator's testimony is notoriously unreliable and laced with internal contradictions—it made me think of one of the best books I have read and reread, Ford Madox Ford's The Good Soldier. Mr. Banville's book also recalls other, mostly French, novels, among them Andre Gide's The Immoralist (which, like Mr. Banville's book, depicts the consequences of sexual repression) and Albert Camus's The Stranger (which concerns a senseless murder).

Shifting Perspectives

In Pale Battalions 

by Robert Goddard

“The dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow."  ― Robert Goddard








"In Pale Battalions" by Robert Goddard is a captivating and intricately plotted novel that weaves together elements of historical fiction, mystery, and family drama. Goddard’s second novel showcases his early mastery of suspenseful storytelling and his ability to craft complex narratives that keep readers guessing until the final pages. Set against the backdrop of World War I and spanning several decades, the book explores themes of secrets, deception, trust, and the long-reaching consequences of hidden truths.

The narrative opens with Leonora Galloway and her daughter Penelope touring France's Thiepval Memorial, a monument honoring the Somme's dead. There, Leonora reveals a puzzling detail: her father, Captain John Hallows, is listed as having died in April 1916, yet she was born in March 1917, making it impossible for him to be her biological father. This revelation sets the stage for a multi-generational tale that unfolds through shifting perspectives and timelines, pulling readers into a web of family secrets centered around the Meongate estate in Hampshire.

The story explores Leonora's early years, which were characterized by the controlling influence of her cunning step-grandmother Olivia and the aloof demeanor of her grandfather, Lord Powerstock. As an orphan raised in a household steeped in mystery, Leonora’s quest for the truth about her parentage drives the story forward. Lieutenant Tom Franklin, a friend of John Hallows and a wounded soldier, joins the story and, while recovering at Meongate in 1916, discovers a complex web of deceit, extortion, and murder. Characters like the scheming Olivia, the enigmatic American Ralph Mompesson, and the vulnerable yet resilient Leonora Hallows add depth and tension to the unfolding drama.

The author's careful plotting and poetic prose are exquisite. The novel’s structure—told through multiple narrators, each revealing partial truths—mirrors the elusive nature of the mystery itself and kept me engaged as I pieced together the puzzle. The World War I setting serves not just as a backdrop but as a catalyst for the moral ambiguities and identity crises that permeate the story.