The Light of Day

Graham Swift wrote the oh so excellent Last Orders (Booker Prize winner, made into a very good film). The Light of Day , his most recent work, is a story told in flashbacks. It features George Webb as a disgraced copper (a character type I find strangely appealing) who was somehow involved in a murder two years ago. On this day he checks into his office (he's now a private detective), buys some flowers and visits an inmate (the perpetrator of the aforementioned murder) in prison. While he is performing these duties he ponders significant events in his own life: the discovery that his father was a philanderer, the scandal that led to his dismissal from the police force, the effect that had on his marriage, his relationship with his grown daughter and with his female colleague and, of course, the events leading up to the murder. I found myself waiting for a twist that never came, not that I minded. This is a very understated novel that confronts the moral choices every individual comes face-to-face with. It's a beautifully and simply written novel, a love story that illustrates the healing power, I think, of penance.