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Past Imperfect
Julian Fellows

St Martin’s Griffin / Macmillan
October 2010/ ISBN 978-0312570804
Fiction / England / Contemporary / 1960s
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Reviewed by Barbara Buhrer

 

Damian Baxter, rich and dying, asks an old friend of their Cambridge days, after 40 years of estrangement, to track down the mother of a child he may have fathered during the debutant season in 1968. In his search this friend (whose name is never mentioned) is taken back to the events of that year: exploring the lives, past and present, of the women with whom Damian had been involved. This search also revives in the narrator memories of events and people he would like to remain buried.

Past Imperfect is an intriguing narration. It is a portrait of a vanished era with a long-lost class that was ill-equipped to deal with its inevitable demise. There is great detail of the people of the upper classes with memorable characters. It is an insightful look at one man's return to his past where he must compare it with his present existence.

Reviewer's Note:

Reviewed 2011
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