Review: The Reader on the 6.27
Gaby Meares
This is such a sweet little book - written particularly for lovers of the printed word. Our hero, Guylain, works in a hellish job, where books are pulped by a monstrous machine which he has christened The Thing. At the end of each day he enters the belly of the beast to clean and secretly salvages the few pages that have escaped the monster - his friend calls them “live skins”. The following morning, he reads these rescued scraps to his fellow train commuters. This is such a gentle story, full of longing, and grief, and kindness and ultimately, love. Highly recommended to sooth a tired soul!