Reservoir 13, by Jon McGregor (4th Estate, 2017)

Neil's picture
Neil

Jon McGregor is an unconventional novelist. There is no one else that I know of who can do what McGregor does in a novel. He has written 3 previous novels and a collection of linked short stories, and he's pushing the bounds of what can be done with the novel form, while always being readable. Reservoir 13 opens with a teenage girl going missing in a small English village. It's winter, in the early years of the 21st Century. The villagers join in the search for the girl, and the following chapters - each covering a year - trace events in the village, the legacy of the missing girl, daily lives, the passing of the seasons and the years. There are many characters, and little plot, but the book has a compelling rhythm; it's an astoundingly well-controlled piece of work, beautiful and affecting, so much feeling is evoked in every sentence. This book deserves to win awards.