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

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I am honestly not sure what to say about this book- I have been left very confused and unsure about what actually happened in this novel. 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 * 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. I have fully crafted a 3d Revolving island in my head where I can see characters arriving and living on the island. I can also see onto the island from a boat and so have the view of an outsider as well as having lived on the island for sometime.

A book in a day, rare thing for me. However, a plane flight will help. This debut novel by Tom Watson is for me, a work that’s unable to be pigeonholed. Sure, there’s an undercurrent of mild thriller, a human study, a deeper issue of crime and punishment - no matter what the crime or misdemeanour, and whether the punishment fits it. This is dystopian fiction at its best. Just like the great Margaret Atwood in The Handmaid's Tale, this author doesn't inform the reader of how the world becomes what it is in this story. It takes some time before we learn what crime Aina and Whitney are guilty of, and when we realise, we see the horror that the world has become, it's so clever and so compelling, and nothing is as expected. Stylish and thoughtful … The eerie claustrophobia of the setting will stay with the reader for a long while.' Literary Review 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.

Recent Comments

I found it difficult to completely buy into the premise and situation of Metronome. So it became more a case of accepting its scenario where the characters play out their parts for dramatic effect. Are the answers essential to the story? Probably not, but when you start pondering such questions mid-book it is obvious that the 'magic' of the story has not drawn you in and you are no longer able to 'suspend disbelief'. I read this in two sittings, inhaling every word. I think we can conclusively say that dystopian/speculative fiction is my favourite genre.

Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this book, perhaps because it didn’t serve up everything to me on a plate. You never really learn anything about the outside society so you have to just imagine a future population controlled civilization also subject to the poisonous effects of climate change. That this society also takes the time and trouble to exile people to isolated locations but still provide resources and communications becomes a bit of a stretch. Also the idea that people would wait 12 years before doing something further about their situation is also unbelievable. It is a first novel though, and it did build suspense and drama effectively towards the end. Sara Cox 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." — Sara Cox Aina and Whitney are sentenced to 12 years banishment, for a crime that increasingly becomes apparent - they had an illegal child. This is a dystopian near future, and if you don’t have a Permission To Conceive pass (issued after conception), then you’re not allowed to have a child. This gives an insight into the desperation of the parents, then the discovery and removal to remote Long Sky Croft. In addition, environmental factors mean they must be issued with a tablet to counteract potential adverse medical effects, so that is dispensed, upon thumb scan of the recipient, three times a day. In effect, their sentence is at the same time physical, punitive, and psychological. 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.The book is short and very pacy, with a lot in it to hold my interest and I finished it in two sessions on a particularly long train journey. I enjoyed the story and was really intrigued with it although I would have liked a little more world building to tell me about the world outside the island. The plot is very character-focussed, told from the perspective of Aina, and we are rooting for her throughout the story, with occasional chapters dedicated to (vaguely) explaining what happened before to cause them to have been exiled. I would have liked a little more explanation as to why these rules had come into existence and also how the punishment system was supposed to work, as well as a little more information about the pills. When a later event regarding the mainland is introduced, this is also skimmed over and I would have liked a little more speculation from the characters as to what had happened as well. In brief, Aina and Whitney have been exiled to an unknown island from an unknown country, and are tethered to a machine which dispenses a pill every eight hours that ensures their survival. They’ve been in exile for twelve years and are awaiting parole when one day a sheep turns up, but sheep can’t swim so where has this one come from?