Past Caring

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Why did I think it was important to read this book again? Because my feelings about it have remained unresolved for two decades. How could a man so good, kind, and noble as Edwin be so betrayed? What kind of love does not even give the benefit of the doubt, does not even offer the chance for an explanation? So for the second time, I've read this book and my feelings remain unresolved. After this second read, I'm angry at all the characters for what they did to Edwin, and for thinking that any of the fruits of those betrayals were worth protecting. I hate that people kept preying on Edwin's goodness and his love for Elizabeth, and it tears me apart that someone he loved so much never even stopped to ask herself 'what if.' Condition: Very Good. A first edition, first printing published by Hale in 1986. A near fine book without inscription in a very good unclipped wrapper with one small closed tear to the top corner of the front panel, a lovely copy. Past Caring is Robert Goddard's first novel, it received the Booker Award nomination for Best First Novel. Goddard's 1990 book Into the Blue was the inaugural winner of the W H Smith Thumping Good Read Award, presented to the best new fiction author of the year. With such a plausible scenario, would Elizabeth have allowed some vague concern about the need for discretion (which itself would have got her wondering about how and why a marriage certificate was floating about). to stop her confronting her fiancée? Obviously not.

Past Caring by Robert Goddard | Goodreads

Goddard's seventh novel (after A Debt of Dishonor ) about two dapper English con men in the 1930s, gets off to a droll and snappy beginning. Aboard ship after narrowly escaping prosecution for a Continue reading » I've just read this book for the second time and I have to single it out for a special recommendation. It is absolutely brilliant. Evocative of places I love - Madeira and Devon. Craftily hinged around historical detail. Amazingly cleverly plotted and so gripping I didn't want to go out! Not a patch on “In Pale Battalions”, the only other book by Goddard I have read. An unlikeable narrator, a very complex plot, a femme fatale who is ludicrously brilliant and beautiful and sexy and bad news for our narrator. It was Goddard’s first book and has some good things in it in terms of the plot, but some of the characters are more than a little unbelievable. Oh, and there’s an embarrassingly bad sex scene too. Strafford left an unpublished memoir which is much of the novel’s first half. The more Martin reads, the more invested he becomes in his subject. He uncovers an intricate far-reaching web of intrigue, including his present-day connection to events started decades before. He becomes friends with Edwin’s intended, Elizabeth and together they try to right the wrongs of the past, the stakes of which are higher than either could’ve imagined. So far I’ve only read Borrowed time, Into The Blue and Out of The Sun but I’ve loved all of them. Great twisty plots, well researched and intelligently written, I’m looking forward to many more enjoyable reads ReplyA wonderful read…the satisfying climax weaves together the strands of past and present.…A poised telling of a complex tale.”— Publishers Weekly The setting and concept are interesting. I always love a story within a story and with Stafford's Memoir we get exactly that. The parts of the book set in 1910, even though they do not concern real people, ring true and conjured Edwardian London in all of its tumultuous glory. For me, Martin's part of the story read a little historical as well, as it's set two years before I was born. It was funny to read about a world where not only did not everyone have a mobile phone, but not everyone had a land line either. The juxtaposition between the contemporary feel of the narrative and those reminders that this was 1977 instead of 2007, never once truly jarred me out the story, it is more a testament to Mr Goddard's wonderful writing. Why should distinguished Edwardian Cabinet minister Edwin Strafford resign at the height of his parliamentary career? Why does the woman he loves so suddenly and coldly reject him? Why, sixty-seven years later, should people go to such lengths - even as far as murder - to prevent the truth from being revealed? Martin is offered a job - to investigate the rise and fall of Strafford, an ambitious young politician whose downfall, in 1910, is as mysterious as the strange deaths that still haunt his family. A friend suggested I read your book ( she’s up to second time reading as she thinks they are wonderful) and I’m now into a third book. Just love them. Brilliant. Exceptional writing. Many thanks, Kathryn from New South Wales, Australia. Reply

Past Caring - Robert Goddard - Google Books

This 1986 Booker prize-nominated novel is a rewarding reading experience. It’s Goddard’s first published novel, which makes the Booker feat even more impressive. The expert suspense-manipulation skills of a Daphne du Maurier romance meets a John le Carre thriller is how the New York Times reviewer put it. I have something to tell you. It is a life and death matter and it concerns the central question of your life that you have spent years slowly destroying yourself over. Also, this involves the Prime Minister and his family and I think someone is following me." At a lush villa on the sun-soaked island of Madeira, Martin Radford is given a second chance. His life ruined by scandal, Martin holds in his hands the leather-bound journal of another ruined man, former British cabinet minister Edwin Strafford. What’s more, Martin is being offered a job—to return to England and investigate the rise and fall of Strafford, an ambitious young politician whose downfall, in 1910, is as mysterious as the strange deaths that still haunt his family. The premise of the book is wonderful. Set during the time of the Suffragette movement and Herbert Asquith as prime minister in 1910. He actually served as prime minister between 1908 and 1916. We are concerned with the fictional Home Secretary, at that time, called Edwin Strafford. Strafford had fallen in love with a suffragette, Elizabeth, but for reasons unbeknownst to us and Strafford himself, Elizabeth will not marry him due to something that Edwin had done and that he had kept from her. What was it? I have just finished reading all Robert Goddard books except the last three that were published I thought they were all brilliant and really enjoyed reading them second time roundAfter James Davenall has been presumed dead for 11 years, a man claiming his identity appears, throwing the lives of his family and former fiancee into confusion.``Goddard goes from strength to Continue reading » Birthday Buoy (Harry Barnett). Included in First Edition: Celebrating 21 Years of Goldsboro Books (Dome Press, 2020) Martin is intrigued. Strafford resigned at the height of his career, disappearing from the public eye. The woman he loved, for whom he was willing to sacrifice everything, suddenly and coldly rejected him. All the reasons for his fall from grace are shrouded in darkness.

Robert Goddard (novelist) - Wikipedia Robert Goddard (novelist) - Wikipedia

Although I enjoyed this book immensely, it was let down by the absurdity of it's main premise: That two people who were very much in love could be broken up by a lie, in the way it was presented here. Set in England during and after WW I, this is the story of three generations: the two Leonoras, mother and child (and their husbands, both handsome, adoring, young army officers), and of Penelope, Continue reading » Into the Blue was adapted for television in 1997 and starred John Thaw in the lead role of Harry Barnett. Robert Goddard was not impressed with the adaptation. In an interview, he said "The TV version of Into the Blue was a travesty of the story I wrote and I am determined that any future adaptations should be more faithful to the original".Distinguished MP Edwin Strafford resigns at the pinnacle of his career, removing himself from the public eye. The woman he loves, and for whom he was willing to sacrifice everything, suddenly and coldly rejects him. All the reasons for his fall from grace are shrouded in darkness. My favorite ever writer and I read 3 books a week from Lee Child to Ian Rankin to Mark Edwards to P James.