A review by scottjeffe
The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst

3.0

Hollinghurst has taken his first stab at the "epic novel." As I started off, I kept thinking "what does this remind me of?" Well, then it came to me: Brideshead, Maurice, with a little Atonement mixed in. The writing was beautiful and artfully gripping at times. I especially liked the technique employed at the beginning of each "era" of building a sense of suspense by laying out new details and findings without telling us who they were about until we were several pages in. And, the twists and turns never involved who you thought. I loved the early chapters best, but then I am one of those who will never get enough of Cambridge, turn of the century, young gay love, etc. Forster's Maurice is dog eared on my bedside table.