This book was a bit odd. The author has shut himself up from the world and watches from his peep hole in his front door. While he is very antisocial, this book was nonetheless a fascinating read.

What to say about James Darke? Is he an antihero like Hendrik Groen or merely a grumpy old man not willing to face life? Well he's a bit of both. When life hands him the ultimate kick in the proverbials, the loss of his wife, he decides to shut himself away from life....a life that includes a daughter mourning the loss of her mother. But he has decided to forsake even her and attempts complete seclusion. But life has a way of inching its way back in.

Darke actually touched me in ways I didn't expect. I recognised so much of my own experiences with losing someone close and seeing someone shut themselves off. Not to this extreme but still it resonated. And that amongst other reasons means this book, and James himself will stay with me a long time. Beautifully written, sometimes gently funny, often unbearably sad this is already one of my favourite books of this year.

Darke is perhaps the most antisocial protagonist ever put to paper. A real grumble pot who hates just about everything and anything to the point he completely withdraws and isolates himself from society, he takes extreme measures in doing so, it’s hard to sit though this intense downward descent into melancholia and depression. This delves deep into the big questions in life that made me feel slightly uncomfortable at times.

James Darke is hateful & spiteful and I was prepared to dislike him all the way through but then glimpses of emotion crept in and you started to feel a little empathy. When I say a little...I mean just a little, he is still highly unlikeable but by the end you do feel abit more sorry for him.

This really is a sad portrayal of someone dealing with grief, the sadness is palpable you feel the sadness of him living life without his wife after losing her through cancer. The isolation and removal of himself from life is extreme it’s only through the flashbacks that some tender aspects to Darke seeps through and you can start to appreciate some of his actions although he wasn’t the nicest guy to start off with. The ending provides some heart which was desperately needed for me to have made this book somewhat worthwhile. I’m still undecided about how to rate this book, I found it a bit like swallowing a bunch of bitter pills. Not totally to my liking but I was nevertheless captivated by Darke and his curmudgeonly ways.

This is definitely the oddest book I've read in 2017, but that's what I was going for. There are days I want a strange, awkward, not-quite-there character and that's what I got, only better. DARKE follows a retired English Lit professor who becomes a hermit, removing himself from the world almost entirely. Personally, considering what happened to his wife, I felt his strangeness was a part of his grief and it made him real to me, a person with feelings and fears and quirks I didn't understand, but that's okay.

DARKE was well written and every page of melancholy was eclipsed with a twinge of beauty.

Beautifully written, thoughtful and erudite. This is well worth taking the time and trouble to read. It dwells on grief and coming to terms with loss but is also full of humour.

This was probably the strangest book I've read all year...but that's what attracted me to it. I was looking for something offbeat, and I certainly found it here. Beauty can be found in melancholy, but upon finishing this book I was glad to move on to something more uplifting.

James Darke is British and a retired literature teacher. He lost his wife to cancer months ago. While one can understand his navigating the waters of grief, he is behaving very strangely indeed. Darke hires someone to remove the golden knocker from his stately door, seal up the mail slot and install a pricey peephole from which he can observe life "out there" when needed. A final coat of unwelcoming and oppressive black paint, and the job is done. Mail is rerouted to a friend, emails won't be answered and phone calls won't be taken. The curtains are to be drawn at all times.

His name is a metaphor for his dour, cynical and judgemental personality. Everything must be neat and in its place. Food and furnishings must be of high quality. One must be clean and dressed to perfection. A steady diet of this man was at times weary to read through in its "Darkeness,"...pun intended. Thankfully, like a shard of light breaking through Darke would unexpectedly redeem himself with acts of love and shedding of tears.

In essence, this book is about a widower, father and grandfather who deeply grieves the loss of his wife, and struggles in his relationship with his daughter. He is a difficult man, but is not without redemption. It was a worthy and interesting read.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this advance reader copy in return for my honest review.