Pears, Tim

Pears's prose ballad manages to make the story, if not new, at least as bracing and possibly as threatening as a Devon stream.

The ninth novel by British author Pears (In the Place of Fallen Leaves; Landed) is a slow-paced and extremely detailed episodic look at a rural way of life about to disappear thanks to the relentless march of industrialization. Though this book is the first in a trilogy, the plot seems short on both conflict and suspense until its rather abrupt conclusion. However, readers who enjoy pastoral settings and who share the author's penchant for exploring the minutiae of life in the past may be delighted by this novel.

Like Cormac McCarthy's The Road without the apocalypse, this story will seize readers' hearts and have them rooting for the survival of a father and his children on the run. Pears (In a Land of Plenty) has produced another strong, sympathetic winner.