The Separation by
May 2017
I knew next to nothing about this book when I started it—though having read and enjoyed several other Christopher Priest books, I expected it to be unsettling and un-put-downable. I was right. It’s written with Priest’s usual chilliness, and you’re never quite sure what’s going on or whether anything at all is real. There’s a stunning amount of WWII history packed into the book, and I got little thrills when I was able to pick apart the actual history from the alternate one. Despite the feeling of alienation and “adriftness” that runs through every Christopher Priest book I’ve read, I did care about what happened to the characters. I’m not sure what did happen, but that’s part of the fascination of it.