I found this at the library in a display of holiday-themed audio books. It sounded really good, so I picked it up.
It is not a holiday book.
It is one of those books about various different strangers with nothing in common whose lives intersect over a big event. As I read through the book..and it is a very slow burn..I came to understand the event was going to be a terrorist bombing. And I hung around trying to figure out who would live and who would die.
The other thing this novel has is the point of view of one of the big shot hedge fund guys right before the financial collapse. The setting is London, but the feel of the super-wealthy getting super-wealthier and the impending doom for everyone else is there.
There is also some commentary of what I think of as evidence that we are descending into the next Dark Age. In fact, one of the characters lays it out that there was a "Golden Age" of education from about 1925 to 1975 when education was relatively universal and teachers would teach. After that, we as a society decided that we didn't want to leave anyone behind so we taught less to everyone. The theory posited is that the coming generation (I couldn't quite pinpoint which that was) would know less than the one before it and that is when society is officially backsliding.
(Side Note to my 8th grade civ teacher, Mr Pielin: It is absolutely your fault that I obsess over this concept.)
Faulks also takes a shot at Reality TV by having a character rant that it is the product of bad people taking advantage of stupid people. So true.
So. There was no warm and fuzzy holiday anything, and I think I will have to have a talk with the librarian.
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