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In a disused lighthouse on the Devon coast lives Peter Straker, a recluse who, in his dreams, is visited by an oddly disparate group of people from a grandmother to a teenager. But they have all been dead for 24 years – and Straker thinks he killed them.
Many years ago, newly-married Imogen Doody’s husband went to work one day and never came back, leaving her angry at life and other people. Now Imogen has inherited a cottage near Straker’s lighthouse, a piece of good fortune she badly needs. But the cottage is falling down, and she needs help restoring it…
Guilt, emotional bruising and a Tiger Moth plane lie at the heart of this story of two misfits. Related with infectious warmth and wit, it is a testament to the essential goodness and resilience of the human spirit.
Many years ago, newly-married Imogen Doody’s husband went to work one day and never came back, leaving her angry at life and other people. Now Imogen has inherited a cottage near Straker’s lighthouse, a piece of good fortune she badly needs. But the cottage is falling down, and she needs help restoring it…
Guilt, emotional bruising and a Tiger Moth plane lie at the heart of this story of two misfits. Related with infectious warmth and wit, it is a testament to the essential goodness and resilience of the human spirit.
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Reviews
A powerful reflection on shame, revenge and the consequences of our actions. Like a latter-day George Eliot, Morrall has a gift for creating a moving story out of potentially unpromising material...a writer of real talent.
This original and absorbing book deserves to take Morrall straight back into prize contention
'Pacey and page turning. Absorbing and beautifully written'
'Gripping. . . Morrall is in complete command of her complex material'
Natural Flights of the Human Mind is solid, satisfying and skillfully plotted, with a cast of wholly believable characters. As the tension mounts Natural Flights really takes off. At its helm, Morrall comes into her own; steering a shuddering, febrile last chapter into an elegant denouement.
'Warm, witty and a testament to the human spirit'
Clare Morrall's debut was the surprise contender for 2004's Booker Prize. Its follow-up, Natural Flights of the Human Mind, proves she's no flash in the pan. With quiet control and a deliciously unsentimental wit, she tells the story of two peculiar characters. Their misadventures accompanied by outside events that move towards an unexpected and oddly touching climax.
Absorbing. . . Morrall can be a moving writer. . . She is particularly good at grief. . . Uplifting.
'Natural Flights of the Human Mind confirms that Morrall writes with a brisk charm and comic vision'