Light Over Liskeard

Light Over Liskeard

From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin

Summary

Sometimes we must look to the past to survive the future.

Q wants a simpler and safer life. His work as a quantum cryptographer for the government has led him to believe a crisis is imminent for civilisation and he's looking for somewhere to ride out what's ahead.

He buys a ruined farmhouse in Cornwall and begins to build his own self-sufficient haven. Over the course of this quest he meets the eccentric characters who already live on the moors nearby - including the park ranger in charge of the reintroduced lynxes and aurochs that roam the area; a holy man waiting for the second coming on top of a nearby hill; an Arthurian knight on horseback and the amorous ghost of an Edwardian woman who haunts the farmhouse.

As life in the cities gets more complicated, and our systems of electronic control begin to fall apart, Q flourishes in the wild Cornish countryside. His new way of life brings him back in tune with his teenage children, his ex-wife, and his own sense of who he is. He also grows close to Eva, energetic and enchanting, who is committed to her own quest for love and meaning.

In this entertaining and heart-warming novel Louis de Bernières makes us reconsider what is really precious in our short and precarious lives.

Marked by de Bernieres’ customary light touch and wry humour...This quirky novel is timely... a feelgood story about friendship and love – vintage de Bernieres.’ Daily Mirror

Reviews

  • Beguiling...Set in a jollier dystopia than the norm, it tells the tale of “Q”, a cryptographer who takes refuge from the madding crowd in Cornwall
    Observer

About the author

Louis de Bernières

Louis de Bernières is the bestselling author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin, which won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize Best Book in 1995. His most recent books are The Dust That Falls From Dreams, So Much Life Left Over and The Autumn of the Ace, the short story collection Labels, the children's book Station Jim and the poetry collection The Cat in the Treble Clef.
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