Author talk: ‘Love Lane’ with Patrick Gale
When veteran Canadian wheat farmer, Harry Cane is brutally obliged to sell up and sail home to an England transformed by two world wars, his arrival triggers unwelcome self-examination for the family he abandoned, and for whom he has never been more than a distant myth.
His daughter feels duty bound to take him in but is riven with doubt and ambushed by a long-buried anger she has never before expressed. Harry’s effect on the next generation is less predictable, and enables his granddaughter to deal with an unspeakable trauma, while her gentle husband feels seen for who he truly is. Can Harry stay and make a new life before it’s too late, or will he find himself cast out again, punished for having witnessed and understood too much?
From the rural plains of Canada to 1950s Liverpool and Yorkshire, LOVE LANE is a searing portrayal of escape and entrapment, and a powerful exploration of what home and family can really be.
Patrick will be signing books following his talk which will be available to purchase from the Falmouth Bookseller.
Free tickets to this event can be booked either by emailing falmouth.library@liscornwall.org.uk or speaking to the Library team.
This event is part of a series celebrating 130 years of the Passmore Edwards Free Library in Falmouth.
About the author
Patrick Gale was born on the Isle of Wight. He spent his infancy at Wandsworth Prison, which his father governed, then grew up in Winchester before going to Oxford University. He now lives on a farm near Land’s End. One of this country’s best-loved novelists, his most recent works are A Perfectly Good Man, the Richard and Judy bestseller Notes From An Exhibition, the Costa-shortlisted A Place Called Winter and Mother’s Boy. His original BBC television drama, Man In An Orange Shirt, was shown to great acclaim in 2017 as part of the BBC’s Queer Britannia series, leading viewers around the world to discover his novels.
