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In Another Light by Andrew Greig (14-Apr-2005) Paperback
Andrew Greig is a storyteller and a poet, and in this new novel both strands of his talent combine to create an enchanting tale set in two very different worlds. In the early nineteen thirties, an ambitious young Scotsman sets out on the long sea voyage to Penang, eager to take up his post running a maternity hospital in the colony, and eager for the new opportunities that will open up for him there. He very quickly makes the acquaintance of two sisters, both very beautiful young women, one looking for a husband, the other married. In the confines of the ship, when conventional morality is shelved for the duration, the seeds of a scandal which will rock the close island community of Penang are sown. Seventy years later, forty-something engineer Edward Mackay, recuperating from illness on the wild isolated island of Orkney, begins to unravel the story of a man he thought he his father, the respectable Doctor Alexander Mackay, now years dead after a long and blameless career. What he discovers astonishes him, and begins to shed light on his own existence.
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First published January 1, 2004
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About the author
Andrew Greig
56 books82 followersAndrew Greig is a Scottish writer who grew up in Anstruther, Fife. He studied philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and is a former Glasgow University Writing Fellow and Scottish Arts Council Scottish/Canadian Exchange Fellow. He lives in Orkney and Edinburgh and is married to author Lesley Glaister.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
November 10, 2022
My opinion seems to be a minority one, but I found I could do no more than plod through this novel. In fairness the last 50 pages did get my attention. Then again, this is a 500-page book.
It’s one of those novels with a dual timeline and with the stories told in alternating chapters. In 1930 Alexander Mackay takes up a post as a hospital doctor in colonial Malaya. It’s on the island of Penang, where the European population lives in a goldfish bowl, and Dr Mackay rashly breaches the moral code of the era. Many decades later his son Edward, born and bred in the UK, has a near-death experience. After recovering, he decides to research his father’s life. He also moves to the Orkney Isles, off the north coast of the Scottish mainland, where he works as an engineer on a renewable energy project.
All the right ingredients were in place for me to enjoy this, but I just couldn’t engage with it. On the cover there’s a quote from a Sunday Times review that says, “It will be a long time since a book has made you care as much.” Unfortunately that wasn’t my experience. I know it’s a cliché to say that you didn’t like a book because you didn’t care about the characters – but I didn’t!
The chapters are all very short, some no more than a single page, although 3-5 pages is probably typical. That’s not a problem in itself, but in this case I’m not sure it worked alongside the dual timeline. I had no sooner started to take an interest in one storyline than it would switch to the other. For me it broke up the story too much.
One thing I did like was the author’s portrayal of Orkney. It’s not a place I know, but I do know rural Scotland, and he captures the atmosphere perfectly.
I’ve read a couple of other books by Andrew Greig and have given a favourable review on here to another of his novels, Fair Helen. This one just didn’t work out for me.
It’s one of those novels with a dual timeline and with the stories told in alternating chapters. In 1930 Alexander Mackay takes up a post as a hospital doctor in colonial Malaya. It’s on the island of Penang, where the European population lives in a goldfish bowl, and Dr Mackay rashly breaches the moral code of the era. Many decades later his son Edward, born and bred in the UK, has a near-death experience. After recovering, he decides to research his father’s life. He also moves to the Orkney Isles, off the north coast of the Scottish mainland, where he works as an engineer on a renewable energy project.
All the right ingredients were in place for me to enjoy this, but I just couldn’t engage with it. On the cover there’s a quote from a Sunday Times review that says, “It will be a long time since a book has made you care as much.” Unfortunately that wasn’t my experience. I know it’s a cliché to say that you didn’t like a book because you didn’t care about the characters – but I didn’t!
The chapters are all very short, some no more than a single page, although 3-5 pages is probably typical. That’s not a problem in itself, but in this case I’m not sure it worked alongside the dual timeline. I had no sooner started to take an interest in one storyline than it would switch to the other. For me it broke up the story too much.
One thing I did like was the author’s portrayal of Orkney. It’s not a place I know, but I do know rural Scotland, and he captures the atmosphere perfectly.
I’ve read a couple of other books by Andrew Greig and have given a favourable review on here to another of his novels, Fair Helen. This one just didn’t work out for me.
August 15, 2015
Timor mortis conturbat me...
After a narrow escape from death as a result of a cyst in his brain, Eddie Mackay is obsessed with thoughts of his own mortality. While lying semi-conscious in hospital, he is 'visited' by his long-dead father who seems to want to tell him something. He learns from his mother that his father once had an affair in Penang, back in the late colonial days of the 1930s, and becomes engrossed in trying to find out more about this period of his father's life. The book takes the form of two stories running in parallel – Eddie's recuperation from his illness on Orkney and his father's story as a young doctor in Penang, with the links being provided by Eddie's slow research into his father's life. Both strands involve the complicated love affairs of father and son.
The writing is excellent and Greig brings both very different locations to life. The contrasts between the wild, windswept cold of an Orkney winter and the tropical heat and sudden rains of Penang are vivid and beautifully described. Each society is a small, enclosed one – Orkney by virtue of its island remoteness, and Penang where the colonials remain a separate group within the wider population – and each is a place where secrets are hard to keep, where everyone knows everyone else's business. Eddie, as the main focus of the novel, is particularly well drawn as a man struggling to deal with the aftermath of a traumatic experience, and trying to find something to give his life new meaning. Sandy, the father, is a little less well developed, and indeed this is true of most of the other characters, who seem sometimes to be 'types' rather than people. The characters in the Penang section in particular are a little too stereotypical, as if drawn from the fiction of the era rather than from life. But the Orkney side of the story works much better, giving a completely credible picture of a small society now expanded by incomers who both conform to and yet impact on the traditions of the place.
So, much to praise about the book. Unfortunately, I have a total antipathy to literary fiction that, however beautifully written, doesn't have a decent plot, and I'm afraid this falls into that category. The Penang story is about Sandy's love affair, and we are pretty much told how that ends before it begins. The Orkney story is about middle-aged Eddie's sex-affair (to call it a love-affair would be stretching it) with Mica, the half-crazed woman he sleeps with on an occasional basis. The strand about Eddie's research into his father's past is rather pointless for the most part and ends with a totally contrived and unbelievable denouement. It feels as if it only exists as an excuse to link the two stories. The book might have worked better if it was shorter, but it drags on for 500 pages, much of which is filled with repeated descriptions of the landscape, weather and culture of the two locations. I'm afraid 500 pages of slow-moving, upmarket romance is too much for me, unless it provides some insight into the ever-nebulous 'human condition', and I felt this doesn't particularly. The question of Eddie's fear of mortality is raised many times, but insufficiently examined to provide any feeling of real depth.
As always, it's a matter of personal taste. I'm hesitant to criticise too harshly because as I've said there's much to admire, and many readers I'm sure will find the parallel romances sufficient to hold their attention, especially given the interesting locations. But for me fine writing, excellent descriptions and good characterisation are only part of what makes for great literary fiction – it must also have either a strong story or a profundity to it, or preferably both, and unfortunately I didn't find much of either in this one.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
After a narrow escape from death as a result of a cyst in his brain, Eddie Mackay is obsessed with thoughts of his own mortality. While lying semi-conscious in hospital, he is 'visited' by his long-dead father who seems to want to tell him something. He learns from his mother that his father once had an affair in Penang, back in the late colonial days of the 1930s, and becomes engrossed in trying to find out more about this period of his father's life. The book takes the form of two stories running in parallel – Eddie's recuperation from his illness on Orkney and his father's story as a young doctor in Penang, with the links being provided by Eddie's slow research into his father's life. Both strands involve the complicated love affairs of father and son.
The writing is excellent and Greig brings both very different locations to life. The contrasts between the wild, windswept cold of an Orkney winter and the tropical heat and sudden rains of Penang are vivid and beautifully described. Each society is a small, enclosed one – Orkney by virtue of its island remoteness, and Penang where the colonials remain a separate group within the wider population – and each is a place where secrets are hard to keep, where everyone knows everyone else's business. Eddie, as the main focus of the novel, is particularly well drawn as a man struggling to deal with the aftermath of a traumatic experience, and trying to find something to give his life new meaning. Sandy, the father, is a little less well developed, and indeed this is true of most of the other characters, who seem sometimes to be 'types' rather than people. The characters in the Penang section in particular are a little too stereotypical, as if drawn from the fiction of the era rather than from life. But the Orkney side of the story works much better, giving a completely credible picture of a small society now expanded by incomers who both conform to and yet impact on the traditions of the place.
So, much to praise about the book. Unfortunately, I have a total antipathy to literary fiction that, however beautifully written, doesn't have a decent plot, and I'm afraid this falls into that category. The Penang story is about Sandy's love affair, and we are pretty much told how that ends before it begins. The Orkney story is about middle-aged Eddie's sex-affair (to call it a love-affair would be stretching it) with Mica, the half-crazed woman he sleeps with on an occasional basis. The strand about Eddie's research into his father's past is rather pointless for the most part and ends with a totally contrived and unbelievable denouement. It feels as if it only exists as an excuse to link the two stories. The book might have worked better if it was shorter, but it drags on for 500 pages, much of which is filled with repeated descriptions of the landscape, weather and culture of the two locations. I'm afraid 500 pages of slow-moving, upmarket romance is too much for me, unless it provides some insight into the ever-nebulous 'human condition', and I felt this doesn't particularly. The question of Eddie's fear of mortality is raised many times, but insufficiently examined to provide any feeling of real depth.
As always, it's a matter of personal taste. I'm hesitant to criticise too harshly because as I've said there's much to admire, and many readers I'm sure will find the parallel romances sufficient to hold their attention, especially given the interesting locations. But for me fine writing, excellent descriptions and good characterisation are only part of what makes for great literary fiction – it must also have either a strong story or a profundity to it, or preferably both, and unfortunately I didn't find much of either in this one.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
September 1, 2023
What a magnificent book - I never wanted it to end. Greig has such a delightful way with language, whether local Scots or English. He is also a poet and this is very evident in his lyrical prose. In Another Light is the moving story of two men - father and son. The son, recently recovering from a near-death illness becomes obsessed with learning more about his father's life before he met his mother. The novel is set partly in Penang, where the father served as a medical officer, and partly in Orkney, where the son is working on a renewable energy project. The story of the father twists and turns and at times runs parallel to the son's life until it all comes together in the last few pages. It is a fast moving plot and the mystery surrounding his father is revealed clue by clue, with a final twist to the mystery right at the end.
September 28, 2024
This was a slow burn but I enjoyed reading it slowly. A very interesting, complex story set between two different worlds and time periods: Orkney and Penang, Malaysia. I enjoyed the characters development, relationships and places, though not the usual type of read for me!
3.5-4*
3.5-4*
January 22, 2017
This is the first book I have read of Andrew Greig's but I will certainly be on the lookout for others. I found the book a bit slow starting because it took time to realize that the chapters alternated between being in the 1930's in Penang about the father, Dr Sandy MacKay and in the present time on Orkney Island about the son, Edward MacKay. But once I got into the rhythm of the story, it was hard to put it down. I read the last 30 pages or so again because there was so much to absorb...the manipulation of Edward's search about his father's life in Penang was exquisite. And did Adele also manipulate Dr. Sandy herself in order to have a child? Love Google because of further information on Penang in far east Malaysia and Orkney Island in far north of Scotland. Many people involved with very distinct personalities; very interesting and intriguing with some mysterious vagueness that we, are readers, have to surmise.
March 6, 2019
This is the second book by this author that I’ve read, the first “ By the Loch of the Green Corrie” and I’ve really enjoyed both. His style is wonderfully descriptive and Scottish. You can hear the Scots accent in the words. Beautiful. The description of Penang in this book is so vibrant .
May 10, 2024
Es beginnt mit einem lästigen Kopfschmerz, der immer stärker wird. Trotzdem denkt Eddie Mackay an nichts Schlimmes, auch wenn er sich plötzlich übergeben muss. Doch dann, aus einem Instinkt heraus bittet er seine Nichte den Notarzt zu rufen. Das rettet ihm das Leben denn es handelt sich nicht nur um harmlose Kopfschmerzen. Nach Tagen im Koma kommt er wieder zu sich. Aber er hat sich verändert. Im "blauen Schattenland" hat er seinen Vater gesehen, der ihm etwas Wichtiges zeigen wollte. Eddie macht sich auf die Suche nach dem, was für seinen Vater so wichtig war. Die Suche führt ihn in die Vergangenheit seines Vaters nach Penang und auf die Orkneyinseln. Immer dabei ist sein kleiner Begleiter, der Shunt in seinem Kopf der sein Leben bestimmt.
Ich habe dieses Buch bereits zum zweiten Mal gelesen. Beim ersten Mal ist es mir nicht aufgefallen, aber dieses Buch ist sehr autobiografisch. Wie auch Eddie stand Greig an der Schwelle zum Tod. Die ersten Kapitel habe ich so schon in einem anderen Buch (Preferred Lies) und ein seinen Gedichten gelesen. Auch dort sprach er vom blauen Schattenland und von seinem verstorbenen Vater und anderen toten Freunden, die er dort getroffen hat. Auch die Begegnungen mit seiner Mutter habe ich so oder so ähnlich schon gelesen.
Die Geschichte Eddies und seines Vaters wird abwechselnd Kapitel für Kapitel erzählt. Beide Männer erleben ähnliche Dinge, auch wenn Sandy Mackay viel jünger war als Eddie jetzt ist. Beide sind auf einer Insel mehr oder weniger isoliert vom Rest Schottlands, beide beginnen eine neue Arbeit und beide verlieben sich in eine Frau, die nicht für sie bestimmt ist. Und trotzdem sind die Geschichten auch sehr unterschiedlich denn Eddie ist nach seiner Erkrankung noch sehr unsicher und verletzlich während Sandy sehr wohl weiß, auf was er sich einlässt. Die beiden Geschichten entwickeln sich parallel. Was dem einen passiert, passiert dem anderen fast 50 Jahre später auch. Beide erleben den selben Schmerz und es ist schade, dass sie nicht darüber reden können denn als der Vater noch lebte waren sie sich nicht so nahe. So hilft sie Suche nach der Vergangenheit Eddie, seinem Vater näher zu kommen.
Andrew Greig schafft es wunderbar, die Atmosphäre der beiden so unterschiedlichen Inseln einzufangen. Von Orkney weiß ich, wie gut er es getroffen hat. Bei Penang gehe ich einfach davon aus, dass es genauso ist. Leider wird die Such nach Sandys Vergangenheit ein bisschen verworren, deshalb gibt es einen kleinen Punktabzug.
Ich habe dieses Buch bereits zum zweiten Mal gelesen. Beim ersten Mal ist es mir nicht aufgefallen, aber dieses Buch ist sehr autobiografisch. Wie auch Eddie stand Greig an der Schwelle zum Tod. Die ersten Kapitel habe ich so schon in einem anderen Buch (Preferred Lies) und ein seinen Gedichten gelesen. Auch dort sprach er vom blauen Schattenland und von seinem verstorbenen Vater und anderen toten Freunden, die er dort getroffen hat. Auch die Begegnungen mit seiner Mutter habe ich so oder so ähnlich schon gelesen.
Die Geschichte Eddies und seines Vaters wird abwechselnd Kapitel für Kapitel erzählt. Beide Männer erleben ähnliche Dinge, auch wenn Sandy Mackay viel jünger war als Eddie jetzt ist. Beide sind auf einer Insel mehr oder weniger isoliert vom Rest Schottlands, beide beginnen eine neue Arbeit und beide verlieben sich in eine Frau, die nicht für sie bestimmt ist. Und trotzdem sind die Geschichten auch sehr unterschiedlich denn Eddie ist nach seiner Erkrankung noch sehr unsicher und verletzlich während Sandy sehr wohl weiß, auf was er sich einlässt. Die beiden Geschichten entwickeln sich parallel. Was dem einen passiert, passiert dem anderen fast 50 Jahre später auch. Beide erleben den selben Schmerz und es ist schade, dass sie nicht darüber reden können denn als der Vater noch lebte waren sie sich nicht so nahe. So hilft sie Suche nach der Vergangenheit Eddie, seinem Vater näher zu kommen.
Andrew Greig schafft es wunderbar, die Atmosphäre der beiden so unterschiedlichen Inseln einzufangen. Von Orkney weiß ich, wie gut er es getroffen hat. Bei Penang gehe ich einfach davon aus, dass es genauso ist. Leider wird die Such nach Sandys Vergangenheit ein bisschen verworren, deshalb gibt es einen kleinen Punktabzug.
July 14, 2019
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3218543.html
My father was born in Penang, now in Malaysia, in 1928, and this book is about a middle-aged Scotsman tracing the history of his own father's time in Penang at almost exactly the same time. So there was a lot of personal interest in it for me. The narrative cuts back and forth between 2004 Britain (mostly Orkney with bits of London and elsewhere) and 1930s Malaya, both of them vividly portrayed - one certainly gets a sense of Penang as a colonial outpost with much restrained ferment (and Orkney as a much more unbuttoned island community). Both father and son have romantic intrigues and dilemmas, and several plot strands are brought together very satisfactorily at the end. All the characters are Scottish, English or local to Penang (so no Irish like my grandfather or Americans like my grandmother), but on the other hand the narrator's father's specialisation is obstetrics, which is rather relevant for my family in this case.
My father was born in Penang, now in Malaysia, in 1928, and this book is about a middle-aged Scotsman tracing the history of his own father's time in Penang at almost exactly the same time. So there was a lot of personal interest in it for me. The narrative cuts back and forth between 2004 Britain (mostly Orkney with bits of London and elsewhere) and 1930s Malaya, both of them vividly portrayed - one certainly gets a sense of Penang as a colonial outpost with much restrained ferment (and Orkney as a much more unbuttoned island community). Both father and son have romantic intrigues and dilemmas, and several plot strands are brought together very satisfactorily at the end. All the characters are Scottish, English or local to Penang (so no Irish like my grandfather or Americans like my grandmother), but on the other hand the narrator's father's specialisation is obstetrics, which is rather relevant for my family in this case.
August 24, 2023
Liked the short chapters, the time, place and protagonist switching, the language and the characters. There were a lot of contrasts between the current flow of time and the past. And although I felt most engaged with the present, the passages from the past made both more interesting. The themes of life and death were tackled obliquely and I took away quite a lot to think on. There's a bit of a mystery so I won't say more.
My copy (from a charity shop) was an 'uncorrected and unedited proof' and I rather enjoyed the odd error and untangling a mix-up of names and possibly times and people near the end.
My copy (from a charity shop) was an 'uncorrected and unedited proof' and I rather enjoyed the odd error and untangling a mix-up of names and possibly times and people near the end.
July 13, 2019
Wonderful, uplifting, atmospheric...
I loved this book which evokes equally the chill of an Orkney winter and the steamy heat of colonial Penang. One man's journey to discover secrets about his father's past and come to terms with his own life and mortality. The language is beautiful, the plot keeps you guessing and turning the pages. A truly gifted author and a haunting story that will stay with me.
I loved this book which evokes equally the chill of an Orkney winter and the steamy heat of colonial Penang. One man's journey to discover secrets about his father's past and come to terms with his own life and mortality. The language is beautiful, the plot keeps you guessing and turning the pages. A truly gifted author and a haunting story that will stay with me.
April 3, 2020
Split between modern day Orkney and 1930s Malaysia, with two stories shadowing each other as a son investigates his father's life. I struggle when characters make daft decisions for the sake of narrative, and that meant I struggled with this book repeatedly. Enjoyed the evocation of late-colonial era Penang, but the characters all felt like little pieces being moved around a board.
January 11, 2020
3.5 stars. Loved the descriptions of Penang and Orkney - just got a bit irritated by Ann and Adele - in fact by most of the women! - and and the rapid flipping back and forth over the three different periods
August 10, 2023
Right up until the last few chapters this was a four star read for me. However the coincidences in the final chapters were pretty far fetched. A well written novel which clearly evoked both Orkney and Penang. Too much detail about the recording process of his tidal music.
September 12, 2018
A gentle story. I had just returned gym Costa Rica when I read it, so the descriptions of jungle resonanted.
April 12, 2019
Beautiful.
January 21, 2022
The second reading of this beautiful book is going to be immense. But I loved it this first time because of how Andrew Greig SEES.
August 21, 2022
Beautifully written book though at times difficult to read, moving as it does between places and time.
January 30, 2024
Just couldn't get into this book at all, gave up after a few chapters.
June 8, 2025
moving story of first loves and letting go
June 22, 2011
Not only was this an engrossing story, it is beautifully written by this novelist who is also a poet. I’m surprised the author doesn’t appear to be all that well-known – I previously really enjoyed The Clouds Above (and so did my husband).
After a near-death experience, Edward MacKay is fixated on his own mortality and the need to know more about his father who died seventeen years previously. The chapters alternate between Edward’s present-day life in Orkney, working on a wave power project, and his father’s sea-crossing and subsequent life in 1930s Penang as head obstetrician. Greig evocatively brings to life Penang society in the days of British Empire. From his mother, Edward is given to understand that Sandy MacKay (known to them strictly as Alexander) had an affair and left Penang under a cloud, only marrying much later in life, after his return to Scotland. There is little physical evidence remaining from Sandy MacKay’s time in Penang, a Buddha figurine, a double-one domino and a photo. But with the help of an elderly lady and a young woman, and newspaper archives, Edward is eventually able to piece together much of the story. From his increased understanding of his father, he is able to begin to make sense of his own life and loves.
After a near-death experience, Edward MacKay is fixated on his own mortality and the need to know more about his father who died seventeen years previously. The chapters alternate between Edward’s present-day life in Orkney, working on a wave power project, and his father’s sea-crossing and subsequent life in 1930s Penang as head obstetrician. Greig evocatively brings to life Penang society in the days of British Empire. From his mother, Edward is given to understand that Sandy MacKay (known to them strictly as Alexander) had an affair and left Penang under a cloud, only marrying much later in life, after his return to Scotland. There is little physical evidence remaining from Sandy MacKay’s time in Penang, a Buddha figurine, a double-one domino and a photo. But with the help of an elderly lady and a young woman, and newspaper archives, Edward is eventually able to piece together much of the story. From his increased understanding of his father, he is able to begin to make sense of his own life and loves.
October 26, 2011
I have met Greig first through a crime novel romp called 'Romanno Bridge' and followed that up with the prequel of that book 'The Return of John Macnab'. I had enjoyed both of them combining humour and a ripping good tale with the beautiful landscapes of Scotland and some quirky characters with depth. So I picked up 'In Another Light' looking for more of the same and was positively disappointed by a much larger and more serious work that yet retained Greig's excellent eye both for character and nature. Greig has the rare gift of making you care for characters that are not necessarily on the face of it only likeable. The story is of the recovery middle aged Edward who suffers a dramatic cerebral accident and nearly dies. He exiles himself to Orkney to rebuild or build anew his life and the story of his is paralleled by his discovery of parts of his dead father's life that he never heard about. The Edwardian age and the 21st Century intermingle as do the island worlds of Orkney and Penang. The writing is brilliant, careful, full of small detail that brings the worlds he describes alive. This is a book that deserves to be read slowly even if you feel like rushing ahead to know what really happened with Edward's dad.
December 29, 2013
This story is set in 1930's Penang, where Sandy MacKay has been appointed to head the Obstetrics unit at the hospital there, and the Orkneys, where his son Eddie is living and working as he recovers from a near-death experience. Both men have choices to make over lovers they have: Sandy's choice leads to his dismissal, Eddie's... well, Eddie's isn't resolved by the book's final page. Eddie is keen to find out about his father's early life in Penang. Sandy met his wife, who gave birth to two boys including Eddie, many years later and is now dead, and this woman has only the haziest notions of the story that she can pass on to Eddie.
The story alternates between Penang and the Orkneys, and it's the Orkneys which come alive in the portrayal. Penang is much hazier.
The men in the book are more vividly drawn than the women, but the tale is involving from the start. I was always eager to carry on reading until the final pages, when coincidence piled on coincidence. A disappointing end to a finely written book.
The story alternates between Penang and the Orkneys, and it's the Orkneys which come alive in the portrayal. Penang is much hazier.
The men in the book are more vividly drawn than the women, but the tale is involving from the start. I was always eager to carry on reading until the final pages, when coincidence piled on coincidence. A disappointing end to a finely written book.
July 30, 2014
A charming book by an author who reminds me in many ways of Lawrence Durrell. He uses words as an artist and a poet (which he is), creating a vivid, memorable sense of place.
In this book the reader lives through both a present-day Orkney winter and the 1930's Penang, exploring the linked lives of a modern day Scottish engineer, fragile as he recovers from a near death experience after brain trauma, and his grandfather who went as a naive young doctor to work in a maternity hospital in what was then Malaya.
The characters are a dynamic mixture with sound human failings and foibles. Love, betrayal, espionage and courage feature in the societies separated by time and distance and a curious link is formed.
I found the plot perhaps rather over-convoluted, but the story and protagonists are most engaging.
In this book the reader lives through both a present-day Orkney winter and the 1930's Penang, exploring the linked lives of a modern day Scottish engineer, fragile as he recovers from a near death experience after brain trauma, and his grandfather who went as a naive young doctor to work in a maternity hospital in what was then Malaya.
The characters are a dynamic mixture with sound human failings and foibles. Love, betrayal, espionage and courage feature in the societies separated by time and distance and a curious link is formed.
I found the plot perhaps rather over-convoluted, but the story and protagonists are most engaging.
December 5, 2014
I really enjoyed it. I like Andrew Greig's books. "In Another Light" was quite a complicated novel. Edward Mackay unravels the story of his late father whom he loved but didn't really know.
The story moves between his research into his fathers life in Penang in the 1930's and his own life on the island of Orkney in the present day. I found the portrayal of life and manners in a British colony of expats in the thirties interesting. The attitudes and the morals of the time are woven into a fascinating story as Edward lives his own life in the present day.
But there was much more to the story than this.
I can only recommend if you like an impressive novel written by a wonderful author read this and also another of Greigs novels "That Summer" an edge of the seat book set in Britain in 1940 and the Battle of Britain pilots.
The story moves between his research into his fathers life in Penang in the 1930's and his own life on the island of Orkney in the present day. I found the portrayal of life and manners in a British colony of expats in the thirties interesting. The attitudes and the morals of the time are woven into a fascinating story as Edward lives his own life in the present day.
But there was much more to the story than this.
I can only recommend if you like an impressive novel written by a wonderful author read this and also another of Greigs novels "That Summer" an edge of the seat book set in Britain in 1940 and the Battle of Britain pilots.
March 27, 2014
this was a really thoughtful read. two stories past and present and all about love and loss and why we are who we are . how we are both like our forebears and distinct from them .
about being afraid to live and fearful of dying. this perhaps makes the book sound more melancholy and heavy weight than it was . it was a great read with lots of bright sparks of joy in it .
the descriptions of both penang and Orkney were lovely and you could feel the heat of one and the cold of the other .
after finishing it I wanted to sit quietly for a long time and just think ......
about being afraid to live and fearful of dying. this perhaps makes the book sound more melancholy and heavy weight than it was . it was a great read with lots of bright sparks of joy in it .
the descriptions of both penang and Orkney were lovely and you could feel the heat of one and the cold of the other .
after finishing it I wanted to sit quietly for a long time and just think ......
August 28, 2011
A 'male-gaze' book if ever there was one, with shallowly drawn, negatively depicted women characters. Elements of The Magus came to mind, but Fowles managed to say what he had to say more concisely, and without the preliminary guise of verisimilitude (particularly of place and milieu), that make Greig's heavily manipulated ending very hard to swallow.
Too long, too male, not enough of a tale to tell so laboriously... I did get fed up with the relentless, rythmical time-hopping.
Too long, too male, not enough of a tale to tell so laboriously... I did get fed up with the relentless, rythmical time-hopping.
April 14, 2012
I'm not a big fan of parallel narratives in alternate chapters however I did enjoy both these stories. The Orkney characters and stories reminded me of Electric Brae and the "Sandy MacKay" story made me want to visit Penang. I liked the realism of the characters but was a bit disappointed by the exaggerated coincidences towards the end. Nevertheless, a good tale of life and death and love and loss and kept me busy on the train to and from Kyle!
August 28, 2011
And whats wrong with a male gaze? . The tale did take rather a long time getting nowhere in particular but I enjoyed it( the Penang episodes more then the Orkney) and the very short 'chapters' made it difficult to put down. I thought it all got a bit Victorian in the end particularly with the Miss Haversham like figure and the bringing together of disparate characters.
March 31, 2015
Mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed the different settings but found the constant changes between first and third person narrative hard to get used to. The ending felt quite weak, really, a bit of a dud. Few of the female characters were likeable, I'm not sure the author understands women. Still, a decent enough holiday read.
March 8, 2016
The parts of this set in Orkney were so well observed and written. I really enjoyed this aspect of the book. I also enjoyed the parallel story of narrators father, Sandy. However for me the ridiculous and un-necessary mechanism used to draw the strands together at the end wasted what was otherwise a quite well written story
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