• Title: The English Patient
• Author: Michael Ondaatje
• Genre/Subject: Fiction (Booker Prize)
• Publisher: Vintage
• Publication Date: 1992
• Start date: 2/6/2023
• Finish date: 2/11/2023

Review:

I was reluctant to read this as I had heard that it was a women’s book. Meaning one of those odious volumes that fat chicks in yoga pants gush to one another about in trendy coffee shops. Well I had no cause to fear, this was outstanding.

From beginning to end this novel was magnificent. The four main character’s individual stories are skillfully woven together into a cohesive whole.

The real history that the novel is based on shines through, and yet it is fiction, not trying to be factual.

I learned a lot about bomb disposal and post war Italy that I never knew about.

Satisfying and stimulating.