book reviews , different studio guests each week. Join us every Thursday between 12 and 1pm on Radio Scilly 107.9fm or log on to radioscilly.com.

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Sunday 21 April 2013

William Boyd - Any Human Heart

reviewed live on bookshow 11th April 2013 by Babs Simpson
This is written in the form of a biography based on diary entries made throughout his life by Logan Mountstewart.  It begins with his schooldays at prep school in England and follows his long life and many extraordinary exploits until his death in France at the age of 85.  Aside from the story, it is a very informative and interesting potted history of the 20th Century.
Mountstewarts chief adult occupation is that of writer and journalist, although he manages art galleries for a friend in both Paris and New York.  During the 2nd World War he is recruited into Naval Intelligence and serves for a while in the Bahamas before being imprisoned as a spy in Switzerland.
He marries twice and has many lovers and friends, so,e very famous - I an Fleming, Pablo Picasso, the duke and Duchess of Windsor, to name drop but a few!
This is an extraordinary book - beautifully written and so convincing I once again felt it was about a real person.
Logan Mountstewart is a likeable character despite all his many faults.  His diary entries are honest and enable the reader to know everything about him - good and bad,
A remarkable, fascinating and very worth-while read.

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