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This book has slightly melted my brain and left me wondering who I am. No seriously, I'm looking into a mirror wondering... who is that?

I came across this book whilst looking at a YouTube Video talking about The Magus by John Fowles (apparently Priest was so impressed by that book he gave up writing for a while). Eventually, he went back to writing and dedicated himself to trying to create something in the same philosophical vein. And he really did achieve it (I will definitely be seeking out more of his work after this). 

The book begins with a man named Richard Grey, a freelance cameraman, who is in hospital in Devon recovering from a car bomb (implied to be the IRA) which has killed several and injured many (Richard perhaps the most lucky of these survivors). He is undergoing physiotherapy and has regular meetings with two doctors regarding both his physical health but, more importantly, the amnesia which he is experiencing. Richard has lost any recollection of the few weeks, maybe a couple of months, of his life just prior to the bomb. Then, at the request of the tabloid newspaper that is paying for Richard's story, a woman named Sue visits him. He has no idea who she is but it is implied that they were lovers during this lost period. After spending some time with her, and, more specifically, after undergoing hypnotherapy with doctor Hurdis and his assistant (a disturbing yet important piece of the book), Richard feels as though he is regaining some snapshots of his lost life. The book then switches to his first person narration as he pieces together their first meeting in France. He and Sue met on the train and began to spend time together though she had a boyfriend that she was going to see in the south of France named Niall who was abusive and controlling. She can't break it off with him but nonetheless agrees to meet up with Richard again later.

Back in the present day (and back to third person narration), Richard and Sue begin seeing each other again. On a visit to his flat they are talking and he tells her that some of his memories have been coming back. He tells her, for instance, about remembering how they met in France on the train, the ordeal with Niall, making love in the hotel. At this point, Sue looks at him in confusion and says:... 'I have never been to France.'

Not long after this, we finally get an explanation of what 'The Glamour' is. This is where the book really ramps things up and, to be honest, I'm not sure it's possible to explain anything more without spoiling the book. Suffice it to say, things get very weird and we finally get Sue's version of events (back to first person narration) of how she and Niall first met Richard in a pub in London. The less you know, the more you will enjoy this book and I would definitely recommend going in cold to truly get the most from it. So that's all I can really say without giving away too much. But I would just like to add that this book, unquestionably, contains the most f*cked up and mind-bending sex scene I've ever come across in literature. Just utterly bizarre, f*cked up, and yet mesmerising! 

This whole thing is a magnificent piece of work. I couldn't believe how well-paced it was. You get third person narration which is gripping. Then it switches to first person and we get a new perspective, new information. Then back to third. Then Sue's first person perspective. All wonderfully unreliable. And all the while Priest writes in a manner that is so beautifully smooth and wonderful to read, the book combining an intriguing story with immensely enticing prose. It's never challenging but effective in moving things along and pulling the reader in all manner of directions, all of which demand answers without ever making them feel too immediate. Priest knows how to tease the audience just enough. And at the end, there are so many instances where the strange little things he included suddenly start to make sense. I absolutely LOVE philosophical books about how we define reality, ourselves, memory, existence, and this book truly lives up to that. It bewilders and bamboozles, plays with the reader, and opens so many doors that will leave you wondering what the hell just happened. It is so cleverly done. Even how we define fiction itself is being toyed with here.

And the ending, like all great fiction, allows you to ponder the implications. There are no answers, only more questions. All interpretations are valid (I have my own). If you want the book to be a straight-forward sci-fi story then it can be but that removes a lot of its power if you ask me. If you don't and prefer to see it as an existential novel (and I do), it works even better. I spent the whole book wondering, anticipating, how ambiguous Priest would allow the ending to be, and pleasingly he leaves the door wide open for all these outcomes to be available. I am very much of the opinion that this is an existential novel which entirely takes place in the real world. There is no sci-fi here, no magic. But that's just me. The truth, however, is that I can never know for sure. That's it's beauty.

It's a masterpiece!