The shape of clouds

by Peter Benson

After a lifetime at sea Captain Michael Blaine has retired to a remote Cornish village. Then an American movie star, Elizabeth Green, comes to see her mother's birthplace, and finds herself stranded.

Genres: Fiction

202 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2012

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Peter Benson was born in 1956 in Kent, UK and is the award-winning author of seven novels. His work has been described as ‘a far-reaching exploration into unlikely relationships’ and is characterised by the precision of its language, characterisations and approach.

Reviews

[Chris Mctrustry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delight from start to finish. Mr Benson’s unique prose is visceral emotive and captivating. This is an intriguing story of a man finding love late in life in the most unlikely place and with the most surprising (for him) woman. The present twists with Michael’s life story from childhood to his years at sea as a merchant seaman. A great read and well worthy of five stars.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

'The Stromness Dinner' was the first I'd read of Peter Benson; I'd half expected to be disappointed by this, the surprise of a new and unique voice paled the second time round. But no. A different tale, more thoughtful, and set somewhere I knew little of compared to Stromness, but nevertheless absorbing, gentle, wider ranging yet close focussed. And lovely. I need to read more by Peter Benson (and a plus: the inner cover scrawled with messages dated 2005, almost another tale in itself.)

[Patricanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautifully written, strange, gentle and unlikely tale.