Rough Music - Patrick Gale

Patrick Gale is one of my favourite authors. He has written 16 novels and has been called 'Britain's most successful gay writer'. He was born in 1962 on the Isle of Wright, but now lives in Cornwall. His father was the prison governor of Camp Hill Prison and Gale was brought up living in the prison grounds. In 'Rough Music' this unusual childhood is vividly evoked, as the central character grows up in the prison, playing in the walled governor's garden and making friends with the prisoners through open windows. ~~plot~~ Rough Music typifies Gale's work: it has an intricate plot which keeps the reader guessing to the end; it portrays the ...  Read the complete review

I picked up another Patrick Gale - called 'Notes From An Exhibition' - and read it very quickly and with considerable pleasure. So when I noticed that I had another of his books on my shelf - Rough Music - I was pleased and was anticipating a pleasurable read. I was not disappointed. The two books are both largely set in west Cornwall which must be an area that the author knows and loves; the descriptions are too rich and emotive to be other than those of a long-term fan. Both books have a woman with a mental illness amongst the central characters; both revolve around family and the strains and stresses - the family fault lines, as it were - which from time ...  Read the complete review

I love Cornwall and I love Patrick Gales books! I had only read one of Patrick Gales books (Notes from an Exhibition) and I loved it, so I went out and bought Rough Music. The book had a lot to live up to and I wasnt dissapointed. This is a great book by Patrick Gale and I intend to read more of his novels as I havent been dissapointed yet. The book is a well written novel covering three generations of a family. As with his previous book, a lot of characters are introduced early on and so its quite difficult to grasp it, but when I did I couldnt put it down. The novel focuses Julian a 40 year old man, who decides to go on a holiday with his family. ...  Read the complete review

To be perfectly honest I bought this book because I liked the cover, it looked relaxing and I personally wanted a break from books like Orwell's 1984 that I had been reading. When I started reading I wondered where exactly the story was heading but I was pleasantly suprised. The book is made up of the life of the central character of Will/Julian and his life as a small boy and when he's a 30 year old man. There is very little room for confusion even though his name does change, as the chapters are named either Blue House or Beachcomber, depending on what time the particular chapter is taking place. In both time scales our central character goes on ...  Read the complete review