Metronome: The 'unputdownable' BBC Two Between the Covers Book Club Pick

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Instead of leaving the story in a state of complete hopelessness, we are given some hope, which is almost immediately dashed by a 'deus ex machina' event and a scene, which may or may not be an illusion. As if the author didn't have the energy or inspiration to write the story ending he desired. In his debut novel, Tom Watson seems less interested in the wider political and social reality of his world than in the mundane detail of the characters’ lives and the bleakness of the landscape they inhabit, the emotional standoff that exists between them as a result of the traumatic severing of their previous existence. His use of language is nuanced and sensitive, with landscape writing especially a sensory highlight. His imagining of the sparse and chilly beauty of the island, together with the exiles’ thwarted attempts to make creative sense of both their fate and their surroundings, should make for an engrossing and memorable reading experience. She is haunted by the loss of a child, the fear of losing another child, the endlessness and despair of not knowing what happened to her son.... At first, the author uses his elegant prose to create the island setting and the characters. Unfortunately, the writing never really develops its full potential.

This is a novel which is chilling and powerful. The ending is one which will stay with the reader for some time as Aina’s hope for parole and a return to her community simply bleeds away. More exciting news for another of our 2016 shortlistees: Tom Watson’s debut novel, Metronome, will be published by Bloomsbury in spring 2022. Aina and Whitney now live in a croft – the location of the island, the country from which they came and when the exile takes place are not made clear. It could be anywhere at any time – and this uncertainty contributes to the disconnected other-world milieu of the novel. When the story begins, Whitney and Aina are almost at the end of their exile – in a few days, they expect to be paroled and to return to their home.Tom Watson is a graduate of the Creative Writing MA at the University of East Anglia where he was awarded the Curtis Brown Prize. Metronome – his debut novel – has been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize. I want to talk about the ending- WHAT. ACTUALLY.HAPPEND? because I still don't understand it a day later. I actually NEED to know what happened- did Aina get reunited with Maxime or was she hallucinating? Please someone tell me!!

Tom Watson has conjured a relationship corroded by compromise and capitulation, and worked it into an extraordinary love story - or rather, a story of what love looks like when affection and trust have fallen away * The Times * Unputdownable ... An extraordinary book ... Metronome might well be a brave new world created by Tom Watson, as insightful and as premonitory as Orwell's 1984 * Litro * Aina and Whitney have been exiled to an island for an unspecified crime which will become clear as the story unfolds. They have been there twelve years, tethered to their little croft by the need to take a pill from a dispensing machine every eight hours without fail or they will die. They have built a reasonable life, but after twelve years they are expecting to be collected by a Warden who has failed to communicate with them for the past three years. When the parole does not happen and instead an impossible sheep appears, Aina starts to suspect Whitney of lying to her about their situation. She finds a way of slowly gaming the pill machine to over time give her an extra and hence the capacity to go further from their croft. But the situation is soon going to become more complicated and her relationship to Whitney will be further tested.

Reviews

Stylish and thoughtful … The eerie claustrophobia of the setting will stay with the reader for a long while.' Literary Review The couple's environment while beautiful is a little too harsh for easy living, and the couple's personalities are contrasting rather than complimentary: For twelve years Aina and Whitney have been in exile on an island for a crime they committed together, tethered to a croft by pills they must take for survival every eight hours. They’ve kept busy – Aina with her garden, her jigsaw, her music; Whitney with his sculptures and maps – but something is not right. BBC Arts has announced that Between The Covers is returning to BBC Two for a fourth series this May, with Sara Cox hosting.

This book really emphasises the two types of people - those who accept what is, and those who try to chang their situation. The events move along at a good pace - for life on an exile island, and soon all is revealed to be not as we, or they, were lead to believe. A book about guilt, new beginnings, making mistakes or decisions, because of being forced by circumstances. The betrayal by someone the mc thought she could trust, and her struggle with sensing this from the beginning, and the not knowing if she should trust. You are going to want to google Can Sheep Actually Swim? very soon after starting this book, so I've saved you some time. I loved it … You could feel the chill of the wind … Fantastic; it's a great book' Sara Cox, BBC Two 'Between the Covers'I read Metronome through its inclusion in the 2022 Year of Reading blind subscription from the English language bookstore Shakespeare and Company in Paris, France. It does also get an Ambiguous Ending Alert ™ though. The ending is in somewhat of a delirium state due to events, so what then occurs can be taken in various ways. You can imagine a 'happy ending' if you like, although realistically it seems unlikely. Anyway, if you don't like those sorts of endings, be forewarned.

I came out of this book thinking I had mixed feelings about it, but it's starting to dawn on me that it's more an absence of any feeling at all. Sara Cox says: “I’m absolutely thrilled we are once again delving between the covers, bringing another selection of seven brilliant brand new books, as well as spanning the decades with seven books by talented authors from across the Commonwealth to celebrate the Jubilee. On a personal note, it still brings me endless joy that drinking tea and eating custard creams whilst curled up with a good book is considered 'work'. Bring it on.” She is ambitious, industrious, working hard to create whatever they need and investigating their surroundings. He is passive and compliant, spending time on his art projects and acquiescing to their fate. I love dystopian thrillers and Metronome was a really intriguing book which stayed with me long after I put it down. Aina and Whitney have been exiled onto an island due to breaking their home’s fertility laws. As a condition of their stay, they must take a pill that is dispensed every 8 hours or they die, however their date of parole is coming up and they will soon be free – or will they?Metronome is Tom Watson’s debut novel and wow, what a debut it is. I don’t want to reveal too much about the plot as I think it’s one it’s best to go into blind.