JAMES LONG Ferney **(*)

This book was something of a disappointment, but at least it didn't cost me anything. It was a review copy courtesy of Waterstone's. (You can sign up to receive them. It means they can have some pre-publication customer reviews. Just visit their website.)

Young wife and husband move to rural Somerset (the real village of Penselwood) and buy idyllic ruin to which Gally, the wife, is strangely drawn. They meet octogenarian Ferney to whom Gally is even more strangely drawn. It turns out that in various previous incarnations she and Ferney have been lovers, living in and around this same village and this particular house.

There are some interesting insights into rural history, and there are some bits which get you turning the pages. But the big problem is that it's so over-written. James Long frequently describes what his characters are thinking and then illustrates it by some symbolic action. You don't need both.