A Week in December - Sebastian Faulks

Apart from his recent appearance as the reincarnation of Ian Fleming, I devour the novels of Sebastian Faulks with relish, and saved the reading of his most recent to appear in paperback, “A Week in December”, to coincide with a trip to the capital. It’s a rather ambitious project with an extensive cast of largely unlikeable and unsympathetic characters; the story follows them over a week and gradually the connections between them become stronger. Place and time are paramount to the story; this is clearly a comment on modern society, with an emphasis on the financial sector, at which Faulks ... more

For those who know Sebastian Faulks best for his historical war novels Birdsong and Charlotte Gray, A Week in December comes as something as a shock. Set in London during the week before Christmas in the very recent past, this book is both a satire and a serious comment on modern society. The novel concerns an ensemble of characters from many different backgrounds, all of whom have one thing in common - their lack of touch with reality. Faulks seems to be suggesting that modern life itself is largely responsible for this detachment. A Tube driver whiles away her time on an online game bearing ... more