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A Word Child
by Rachel King

A charming novel. Put briefly, it’s about Hilary Burde, a middle-aged clerk, who is trying to come to terms with his past. The novel is ordered by days of the week and, because Hilary lives according to routines, the same things happen over and over on the same days, with different twists. By the end, I felt as though I was reading a Shakespearean comedy/tragedy: some people aren’t who they seem, others are marrying unexpectedly/two main characters die tragically, another improves but is perpetually unsatisfied. If, like me, you read contemporary literature because you think you should know your future competitors but you’d secretly rather be reading the classics, then this book is for you. And it was published in the 1970s so you don’t even have to feel too guilty.