The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley: The spellbinding BBC Between the Covers book club pick

Product Information

When Zachary's mother dies in childbirth Zachary is left in the care of his father Abel, a clockmaker who is capable of remarkable things. A fateful accident when Zachary is 6 years old leaves him almost blinded, and Abel feeling responsible and guiltridden. In The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley by Sean Lusk (Doubleday) a six-year-old suffers a terrible accident, leaving him nearly blind.

The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley - Goodreads The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley - Goodreads

Forget Dickens this Christmas and try High John the Conquerer by Tariq Goddard (Repeater Books), which embodies the best of what the avant garde Repeater stands for, blending working-class politics with experimental fiction and hauntological analysis. We cannot be certain whether Mary saw Jaquet-Droz’s automata on her way to Lake Geneva, but she was certainly familiar with them.

In telling the story of an antebellum racehorse, she balances two compelling timelines and explores the rotten legacy of American slavery. Driven by comedic pathos and electrifying inquisitiveness, it’s a memoir that thrums with “word music”.

The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley by Sean Lusk - Waterstones

I think the characterisation was good as regards Zachary, Aunt Francis, Mrs Morley and Tom, but throughout it all, the idea of Zachary displaying powers of second sight seemed to be lost along the way. Ten-Thousand Apologies: Fat White Family and the Miracle of Failure by Adelle Stripe and singer Lias Saoudi (White Rabbit) is an intoxicatingly readable book about the cult band, and how transcendent art can emerge from (or in spite of) incomprehensible self-sabotage, utter chaos and extreme interpersonal friction. The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley' is a stunning debut from Sean Lusk and I can't wait to read whatever he comes up with next! At the touch of a hand, Zachary can see the secret desires, regrets and inner workings of the people he meets.I will be giving everyone Will Ashon’s The Passengers (Faber), a book that’s more like music, a mesmerising polyphony of human voices, their memories, secrets, dreams, hopes and fears, assembled from conversations with a hundred unnamed people from across the UK. Reminiscent of Dickens (but in my opinion less dense and more accessible) Sean Lusk skilfully tells the story of Zachary Cloudesley and his father, Abel. A beautifully crafted historical mystery of love and hope, and the adventure of finding your place in the world. He is like a clock that tells of time to come and of time past and missed, yet is driven by blood and a beating heart, not by mainsprings and bobs of steel and brass.

The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley - Independent Book Reviews The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley - Independent Book Reviews

I didn’t want to race through it at any point, in fact I dragged out the last 50 pages as ending it just seems a little too sad, I could have happily read many more years of these characters lives. Lusk's world building is terrific, there is a wide and disparate stellar cast of distinct characters that include the eccentric Aunt Frances with her menagerie, and the courageous apprentice Tom with his own secrets.Entertaining and hugely different and original novel with a story that winds and curls across the years, interweaving main and incidental characters into its fabric. Sure, Zachary, and those close to him have a certain magicality at their disposal, but while this helps them face up to some considerable challenges, it doesn’t make everything suddenly better, and much of The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudsley, which sings with love, beauty and hope despite the pain and loss, is devoted to how you battle through, and hopefully come out the other side, when everything seems arrayed against you, seemingly ready to take everything you value away.