The Quality of Light

By chance, Daniel and Isobel both find themselves visiting a city of long-ago memories. Each is haunted by their time spent previously there, a past in which they attended the same course, fell in love and almost – but not quite– began a relationship, before things went horribly wrong. Will their paths cross again as they criss-cross the city? And what of their former course tutor who, it gradually emerges, was himself deeply affected by Daniel and Isobel''s first meeting. Now afflicted by the early onset of Parkinson''s Disease, he too recalls the past in the light of his new condition.

Full of Richard Collins'' trademarks of forceful natural imagery and the exploration of place, The Quality of Light develops inexorably to its startling conclusion. It also reintroduces characters from Collins'' previous novel, Overland.

"Fresh, surprising and ambitious... Richard Collins'' dark-hearted love story is a gripping tale that unfolds with immense narrative skill."
The Whitbread First Novel Award Judges on The Land as Viewed from the Sea

Richard Collins is the author of two novels, The Land as Viewed from the Sea (Seren, 2005) and Overland (Seren, 2006). The former was shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize for Best First Novel in 2004 and the Arts Council of Wales Book of the Year Award in 2005, and remains a popular work with reading groups. A lecturer in countryside crafts, Richard lives in rural west Wales.