John Baker’s Blog

The Taster:
Billy was on the point of drifting off to sleep when a single sentence drew him right in close.
‘But that day for some reason, I was all alone . . .’
Billy roused himself. ‘Sorry. Where was this?’
‘In Manchester. A place called Fallowfield.’
A white car pulled alongside him, Trevor said, as he was walking. The [...]

Published in 2005, Rupert Thomson’s Divided Kingdom presents us with a UK divided into four separate countries, each populated by people drawn from different personality types and reinforced by concrete walls, armed guards and razor wire. The connections with texts like Brave New World, 1984 and Gulliver’s Travels are obvious.
Thomson’s divided kingdom is structured according [...]

You let it out from time to time. Margaret Atwood, I like her. Or you tell someone you’ve just finished another Elmore Leonard novel. Rupert Thomson, I’ve read a couple of those, there’s always something . . .
Whatever, your tastes change and you get to the end of this author’s work and start on someone [...]