Skin Lane
Starred Review. British author Bartlett (Mr. Clive and Mr. Page) deserves to win acclaim on this side of the Atlantic for this complex and rich journey into the heart of a lonely man, framed as a bedtime story. Mr. Freeman (aka Mr. F), a 46-year-old fur-skinner, has worked in the same office at the same job in a quiet London backwater for 33 years. Then, in early January 1967, he starts to have disturbing dreams that feature the nude corpse of an attractive young man. Soon after, his boss's teenage nephew, who's never named, comes into the business as Mr. F's apprentice. After realizing that the nephew resembles the body in his nightmares, Mr. F. finds himself sexually attracted to another person for the first time—an attraction that soon escalates into dangerous obsession. With loving detail, Bartlett brings Mr. F's workplace effortlessly to life. This remarkable novel's images and characters will linger long in the reader's memory.(Nov.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.