First published 1991
Charlie Grant stands at his father's deathbed in Glasgow, watching a good man slip away. His father dies with quiet dignity, leaving Charlie with memories of decency and honor. But grief brings no peace. Charlie's mother has been unfaithful, and her adultery burns in his mind like acid. The contrast destroys him. His father lived humbly and died well. His mother chose desire over duty. Charlie carries both truths inside him, and they tear at each other. He walks through Glasgow University as a student, but his real education happens in the space between love and rage. His father's death becomes a lens that shows him everything wrong with the world around him. The betrayal feels personal and universal at once. Charlie must decide what kind of man he will become when the people who shaped him represent such different choices.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, 20th-century, contemporary, family-drama, academic
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-study, family-drama, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Glasgow, Glasgow University
Period: 20th-century
244 pages · Paperback · Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd