I have hesitated to write this review because, truthfully, I am not entirely sure that I know what happened at the end. I read it all. I actually read the end several times. And then I skipped back to the middle, just to check something, before trying the end again. I have decided to just believe in what I think happened, and since I don’t want to spoil it for other readers then I don’t have to make a complete fool of myself writing down what it is I think! And actually, that mysteriousness is part of the charm of the story. So, slight confusion aside, I still gave this book four stars, and this is why…
Read the rest of my review here.
This Librarian... 
Me too! Bought this after hearing amazingly positive reviews of it on Radio4 book review prog but…well…what happened? Anyone please??
🙂 Well, I think it’s open to interpretation! I wasn’t sure at the end – maybe he’d been dead all along? Or maybe he died along the way? What did you think?
I finished it last night and I too wasn’t sure that I’d completely understood what happened at the end! When the fat man in the wheelbarrow showed up that was when I thought it was descending into a magic realist kind of thing…..I might have to go back and read it again (it was nearly 1am when I finished it and my patient husband had asked me to turn the light out a few times!)
I enjoyed your review Ruth, you captured exactly what I thought about the book. In the Place of Fallen Leaves is still my favourite, but I found Landed to be beautifully written for the most part, almost lyrical, and Owen as a character is a triumph. I was lucky enough to have Tim Pears as a tutor at my Arvon course last year and could kick myself for not having read this first!! 🙂
Thanks for your comments. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one left confused! I keep thinking I should try to read it again…
How exciting to have had Tim Pears as a tutor – what was he like in real life?