I think I just found my new favorite audiobook read by MK (and a new favorite author to check out--in print or in audio format). I had to listen to this only on my car cassette player, as my portable Sony Walkman was making MK sound a bit like Darth Vader (even the women's voices)

. Consequently, I found myself making excuses to run errands

Otherwise, I would have finished it much faster (it was one of those books that I could "just not put down").
This book really did have a lot of twists! I was at first convinced that Eyres (spelling?) really did have some sort of "connection" with Marian Esguard. And when it became clear that it was all some sort of 'set up', I was a bit upset (this was all "
much ado about nothing", I thought). But then I quickly found myself fascinated in finding out how all of the present characters related to each other (Eyres, Ian, Conrad, Niles, Daphne, Isabelle [deceased], and the bookseller).
The ending was really very sad, with Amy being killed. But, I was happy to see that Ian (whom I had really started to like as a character) seemed to be able to work through it and go on.
The background about Marian Esguard was so convincingly real that I just now looked her up to see if she really existed. She did not, but on Robert Goddard's website, there is a 'behind the book' section that discusses some of the reasoning about why he wrote a certain book. He noted that 50 years before Talbot invented photography, a woman named Elizabeth Fulhame was experimenting with photographic techniques, but had to give it up because of scientific indifference. He based Marian Esguard on her.
Throughout this book, I kept thinking to myself about how clever Goddard was to make all of these historical figures and present day figures fit together. Although, now I know that the historical happenings really did not take place; but still, WOW, what a great imagination. I know this is true of a great many authors, but I just really thought that particularly of Goddard.
Here's where Goddard talks about
Caught in the Light: .
So, that's my opinion of this book. I now want to read more of Goddard's books (or listen to them).
Samfan
"It's got so much chalk in it I'm not sure if we should eat it or write with it."
***
"What are you going to do for the rest of your life, fish? There's bigger fish to be caught here."