"In this mesmerizing debut, a young American discovers he may be heir to the unclaimed estate of an English World War I officer, which launches him on a quest across Europe to uncover the elusive truth. Just after graduating college, Tristan Campbell receives a letter delivered by special courier to his apartment in San Francisco. It contains the phone number of a Mr. J.F. Prichard of Twyning & Hooper, Solicitors, in London -- and news that could change Tristan's life forever. In 1924, Prichard explains, an English alpinist named Ashley Walsingham died attempting to summit Mt. Everest, leaving his fortune to his former lover, Imogen Soames-Andersson. But the estate was never claimed. Information has recently surfaced suggesting Tristan may be the rightful heir, but unless he can find documented evidence, the fortune will be divided among charitable beneficiaries in less than two months. In a breathless race from London archives to Somme battlefields to the Eastfjords of Iceland, Tristan pieces together the story of a forbidden affair set against the tumult of the First World War and the pioneer British expeditions to Mt. Everest. Following his instincts through a maze of frenzied research, Tristan soon becomes obsessed with the tragic lovers, and he crosses paths with a mysterious French girl named Mireille who suggests there is more to his quest than he realizes. Tristan must prove that he is related to Imogen to inherit Ashley's fortune -- but the more he learns about the couple, the stranger his journey becomes. ... Part love story, part historical tour de force, Justin Go's novel is utterly compelling, unpredictable, and heartrending"--
". . . A young American discovers he may be the heir to the estate of an English WWI officer and alpinist, left unclaimed for nearly 80 years, which launches him on a quest across Europe to uncover the true story of the officer's love affair with the woman who may or may not be his great-grandmother"--
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I enjoyed the tension created by the running clock, and the back and forth between present day and the early 20th century. I loved the insights into what it might have been like in the muddy trenches of France in WWI. I was frustrated by Imogene's stubbornness and didn't like the ending. But overall it was worth reading.
I received a copy of this book for free through GoodReads FirstReads in exchange for my honest review. Here goes.
I'm not going to finish this book. I just can't get over one thing - the dialogue. It's all written like this:
-And what, Imogen wonders, is that?Ashley taps his cigarette on the ashtray.-I couldn't say. It's different for every man.-There isn't a name for it, Ashley says...
The dashes would be fine, if it weren't for all the “Ashley says” or “Imogen wonders” type things thrown in without quotations making you have to re-read every single line after you realize it's not actually part of the dialogue. Not ok.
Otherwise, I think the idea for this story is great, but the writing is just too distracting.
