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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.
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Reviews
Natural Flights of the Human Mind is solid, satisfying and skilfully 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.
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.
Pacy and page turning. Absorbing and beautifully written
Gripping . . . Morrall is in complete command of her complex material
Absorbing . . . Morrall can be a moving writer . . . She is particularly good at grief . . . Uplifting
This original and absorbing book deserves to take Morrall straight back into prize contention
Natural Flights of the Human Mind confirms that Morrall writes with a brisk charm and comic vision
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.