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A further reading of a book that has stayed with me. I'd go as far as to say it's one of the five most memorable books I've read. A sympathetic and sometimes unsettling account set at a time of suspicion and suffering. The reflection on human nature - both good and bad - has the ring of complete truth about it. It's easy to believe that the conversations and events depicted here actually happened. It's both a sad tale and an uplifting one. It's a book that creates in the reader the need for reflection to ponder on the messages the story carries.

A good book? No, in my opinion, it's a great book. One I'll return to again, for sure.

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Roth's books are usually dark, unsettling, argumentative, challenging, sexually explicit, political�� well, you get the picture. So, it's not quite what you'd necessarily reach for when you're spending your summer holiday lazing on a beach. But if you've had your fill of crime capers and mysteries and fancy something a little more serious, then a ration of Roth might just do the trick.

This novel is set in Newark in the sweltering summer of 1944 at the time of a polio epidemic. It follows a young man who is not fighting in the war due to his poor eyesight and has instead become a school playground director. His goal is to nurture and protect the young people in his charge and to show them the joys and benefits of sporting activity. What transpires is told beautifully by the author, as we witness the story unfolding through the eyes of one of the youngsters who is to become a victim of the outbreak. It's a concise and spare tale, but it is none the worst for that.

It's a gripping story of compassion and dedication set against the backdrop of truly heartbreaking events. It's a departure, I feel, for Roth - gone is the anger and invective that permeates much of his work, replaced by subtlety and a deftness of touch I've not seen from him before. A wonderful read one not to be missed.