Tuesday's Pick: The Rain Before it Falls

The Rain Before it Falls by Jonathan Coe 2008

I’m always looking for a book that is able to tell a story using an intriguing method. I have found a winner in British author Jonathan Coe’s The Rain Before it Falls. According to Coe, the novel has been twenty years in the making. Elderly Rosamund has committed suicide and leaves an audio version of her life story revealed through a series of twenty photographs. She has left the audiotapes and photographs for Imogen , a relative from her past, that family members are unable to locate. In the end, it is Rosamund’s niece Gill who listens to the tapes. Many secrets are revealed and ultimately a tragic story is told. The end result is a beautifully written book.