Patrick Gale's first novel is suffused with heady wish-fulfilment as two contrasting love stories entwine in the space of one simmering summer week. WPC Mo Faithe is overcome with lust while investigating a series of violent attacks on newspaper astrologers. Meanwhile in Cornwall, the Peakes are conducting their annual music festival, the cue for their two 'children' -- Seth, a young violin prodigy, and Venetia, a highly-strung scholar -- to embark upon a voyage of self-discovery. As Seth sets out in hot pursuit of unconventional romance on the cliff-tops, the virginal Venetia displays every symptom of an immaculate conception.

About the Author

Patrick Gale was born on the Isle of Wight in 1962. He spent his infancy at Wandsworth Prison, which his father governed, then grew up in Winchester. He now lives on a farm near Land's End.

Reviews

Pork is pig and pig is cop and because this sad, funny, deeply searching novel by the author of Ease is, besides much else, an exercise in detection, its title is justified. Our attention is called at once to 16-year-old Seth, who is both a brilliant violinist and totally obsessed with sex. Next we observe policewoman Maude Faithe, called Mo, who, silently watching a pickpocket steal Seth's mother's wallet, unwittingly joins two strands of the plot. Moving ever more in parallel, Mo and Seth, both gay and fearful of discovery, find lovers and find, too, the joy of declaring themselves. In grim antithesis, however, is a series of tawdry and illogical thefts, culminating in death, always perpetrated on fortune tellers and mystics and clearly the work of the same meticulous man. When Mo is assigned to the case, her fortunes are joined for a breathless space with those of Seth and his family. Plotting, characterization and dialogue quicken the reader's pace, just as the delicacy of the unfolding love quickens the heart. (July 8)

'It is packed with arch dialogue, affectionate caricatures and the feigned good humour more commonly found in memoirs written by chauffeurs of the famous.' Observer 'A sad, funny and deeply searching novel. Plotting, characterisation and dialogue quicken the reader's pace, just as the delicacy of the unfolding love stories quickens the heart.' Publishers Weekly 'A real craftsman, a master storyteller.' Independent on Sunday 'Gale's concoction is irresistible: modern relationships with period charm. I couldn't have liked it more.' Armistead Maupin