The Clearing

'There's something musical, even operatic, about this lush, violent and romantic novel. Its impeccably managed structure ushers in storylines and characters like an orchestration on the themes of revenge and redemption, the crescendoes falling away into still images of the waterlogged natural world. The morality of the characters is so finely judged that who's standing at the end of the fighting is no certain guide to merit. In a way, the thrilling plot and prodigal nature of the central relationship are the least original aspects of Tim Gautreaux's writing. The story primarily persuades with its realism, its account of life experienced from inside the characters, whose wonder is mixed with the necessity of exploitation or just survival.' Will Cohu, Daily Telegraph