Murmuration: A Perfect Read for Fans of Cloud Atlas

by Robert Lock

This poetic novel follows lives and struggles across generations under the constant dance of the sea birds in the English resort town of Blackpool.   The old Victorian pier of Blackpool has stood the test of time, carrying each generation over a cold and relentless sea. As the starlings swoop and glide in mesmerizing patterns over the stalwart structure, they watch the lives of those who pass people absorbed in their human dramas, following their own arcs of striving and despair.   From the mid-1800s to the present day, Robert Lock’s Murmuration follows two scandalous comedians born a century apart; a seemingly ageless deckchair attendant; a fortune-teller who believes no one can see the future; as well as others who’ve been drawn to the possibilities of this seaside town. But here, too, is a man who knows that the only way to stop history from repeating itself is to solve a mystery as old as the pier.

379 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 28, 2020

Reviews

[Susan Hampson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have fallen in love with this book and its hypnotic and mesmerizing stories. Five generations of people who were unknowingly connected by a thread, linking all of their destinies together. I just didn’t want it to end and already know that I will come back to it time and time again, the pier will not let me go but then again I don’t want it to.
Built-in 1863 the pier became the centre of seaside entertainment for the working class man and his family. It was also a place where entertainers could perform for a whole season without moving from town to town. A fresh audience came to them every week, and every day new families filled the seats. The story spans from when the pier was erected right up to present day, where rather than make stars for the future it reclaimed the ones that had seen better days.
The book is split into time zones with chapters in each one. Robert Lock introduced me to strangers at the beginning of each section but within a couple of pages I felt that I knew them intimately. Their dreams, hopes and missed opportunities. It’s about love, loss and uncontrollable distress released in a moment of anger. A feeling and compulsion and trying to solve problems that don’t exist, with some of the most intimate moments of utter unbearable heartbreak captured to perfection like I have never read before.
This is a tremendous work of art, as Robert Lock creates the most vivid images with his beautiful descriptions in every single sentence. At times it is simple and direct and at others more exquisite and flamboyant. It is absolute perfection!
I wish to thank Legend Press for a copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.

[Fran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the elements of this...from the setting (which in essence became a central character), to the tragic events linking across time. Not a “feel good” story, but an immensely compelling read.

[Richard Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

See rich-reviews.co.uk / @richreview
"Starlings provide the panoramic perspective on a town whose fortune has been made from the hypnotic impact of the sea but whose ultimate demise is overseen by a pier whose physical permanence has been gradually eroded by the tides of time.
The murmuration of winged guardians are the town’s avian hard drive, able to host the memories for generations, from the halcyon days of the 1800s through to the desolate shore line of today. But it’s the relentless pressure of the sea that begins to take its toll not only on the skeletal framework lurking above the water but on the people who attempt to bring it to life.
Georgie Parr is the forerunner of a long list of music hall comics who haunt the creaking pier and it is his tragic end that sets the tone for a plot of otherworldly undertones shifting from the mystical to the macabre and ultimately onto the miraculous.
The author explores the fluctuations in the town’s fortunes through the eyes of characters who are either drawn to or are unable to escape from the seemingly magnetic pull of a Victorian structure whose unassuming and weather beaten façade withholds secrets too dark to see the light of day.
Mickey Braithwaite, the mentally impaired but innocently insightful deckchair attendant, is the pier’s unlikely spiritual gatekeeper who observes the peccadilloes of its transient inhabitants with an unexpected wisdom reflecting an almost mystical persona.
Death and decay permeate the story as characters struggle to find life in a town where the lifeblood has been drained by the lure of warmer climes and those left behind become part of an historical archive that has echoes of a black and white film with the stars receding into a darkening horizon."

[Roskana · Rating 2 out of 5]

There’s a fascinating story in this book, a chance event which links characters throughout the life-time of a sea-side resort pier. It’s a clever idea. But for me it just didn’t come off.
Let me start with what I did like – in fact, loved. The chapter on Michael Braithwaite, the young man with a different intelligence to the rest of the world. He can sense the supernatural, he can tell one plane from another and become a war-time hero. He can stack deckchairs like nobody else. I so wanted to meet him. The author is absolutely brilliant at bringing him to life, following his thought processes with simple, direct language.
And I loved the fact that I now have a lovely new word to add to my repertoire: ‘susurration’ – the murmuring sound of waves on the shoreline (although there were plenty of other words I had to look up which seemed placed there purely to assert the author’s superiority, but then I can be grumpy).
The book as a whole, though, didn’t gel. Too much going on, too many styles – music hall humour, supernatural episodes, murder, exquisite prose, local history, lurid sex. (Sorry, but detailed accounts of masturbation added nothing to the plot.)
So all in all I can’t say I enjoyed Murmuration. But I bet you it goes on to win awards. Thanks to Legend Press for a copy to review.

[Great Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mesmerising collection of short seaside stories wherein the setting takes on almost as much character as any of the people we meet. Very well developed characters and relationships for what is ultimately a brief glimpse into a moment that sets up a narrative beyond the window frame very well and fascinating revelations of connections across time. A few passages tougher to connect with and some unfortunately that I found myself reading back through multiple times and still not feeling it, but generally a fabulous journey. Growing up and living in seaside towns there are so many distinctive places through which I can relate to the setting and across all my years the truth there is into it playing a different but intrinsic role in moments of peoples life. The framing technique is equally charming.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a sense of sadness lurking behind the bright lights and joyful noise of the tourists on the pier, and this is in fact quite realistic. There's something very forlorn about an off-season seaside town when the attractions are shut down and the prom looks like something out of a ghost town, but even in peak season, the lives of the locals are often less cheerful and carefree than most tourists would believe as they're munching on their candy floss and playing on the slot machines.

full review on my blog : https://madhousefamilyreviews.blogspo...

[Sonia Almeida Dias (Peixinho de Prata) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murmuration comes from the sounds a flock of starlings make while flying/dancing above the Victorian pier of a coastal town in the UK. They are ever present in each of the stories this book has to offer us, entwining them and creating a liaison between all.

All the stories were good, even though my favorite was definitely the one about Michael Braithwaite. There were times where I was genuinely surprised with the plot, which for me is refreshing.

In general it was a very beautiful book, about human relations and with a hint of otherworldly views.

Recommend to everyone who likes good melancholic stories, about the cards life deals us.

[Anne Goodwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An original and entertaining chronicle of scandal, show business and masculinity and the development and decline of the English seaside resort.
Full review
Holiday settings: Murmuration & The Summer House http://annegoodwin.weebly.com/1/post/...

[Anna Butler-Whittaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmmmm I’m not really sure what to say about this book. It was very cleverly written, intriguing, intelligent, compelling and fascinating, but I didn’t actually like it or enjoy it. It was quite dark and although it had a very clever conclusion, it didn’t have an explanation for what happened. So yeah - really well written, but not totally for me. Interesting though!

[Katarine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Struggled to finish. I found the use of language quite contrived, especially in the beginning - not sure whether there was actually a change in style through the book or I just got used to it. I think it could have been improved with some good editing.

[Kelly Symons · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. The five characters this story centres around are all intriguing and well written.
I loved the connecting link that followed the characters throughout the book.
The front cover is one of the most beautiful I've ever come across.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really torn while rating this book. The storyline is fantastic but there is many extremely descriptive scenes that should really come with a TRIGGER WARNING . Some parts I was unable to read due to the content. This book is probably not for you if you have a history of trauma.

[Ellie Cripps · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would say I really enjoyed around 20% of this, but that doesn't make up for how I felt about the rest. A few too many gratuitous sexualised descriptions of women that really took away from the actual heart of the story. Fun concept that doesn't pay off in the way it could.

[Robert Lock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not bad for a first effort

[Trina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rarely give 5 stars but this book amazed me on so many levels. I'm a great lover of history and always feel so much is lost in just a photo or dry facts. This book gave history a life with feelings and emotions that l probably read way too much into, but it's there for the taking in your own interpretation. Well done Robert Lock. Hope there will be many more.