In one episode she hints at a homosexual relationship the fulfilment of which would at that time have been a criminal offence. One of Collins’s strengths as a writer is to raise issues without seeming to do so. The coincidence of naming might easily create confusion in the mind of a young reader, possibly undermining the will to press on. But for a time, reading the book, we are not certain whether we are witnessing a time slip. Of course it is not unknown for boys to be named after their grandfathers. As we read, it transpires that the contemporary character is the other’s grandson.

The main character in the 1936 episode has exactly the same name. The main character in the episode set in 2006 is called Oliver Gardner. The theme that recurs through the three episodes, which appear in reverse chronological order, is the effect of history, time and human manipulation to undermine and destroy relationships.Ĭollins adds a complication which seems to me to be unnecessary and confusing. The story is dark, gothic and disturbing, reminiscent of classic gothic novels such as Walpole’s Castle of Otranto. The novel recounts three episodes – in 2006, 19 – when some lonely soul in the house comes into contact with him, with his memory or with his ghost.

That's the best.H J Martin is the owner of Tyme’s End, a desolate and dilapidated house in the country. I don't know how I did it, but I made that. And sometimes, very occasionally, I look back at what I've written and I don't quite know where it's come from: and all I can say is, wow, I did that. There's a rush I get when the writing is going well that it's hard to beat. It's a way for me to make sense of things - when I write about other people, I understand myself better (after all, when it comes down to it, all those 'other people' are also, sort of, me) but also because writing is just. And I write because it's a way to live my life. It's like being a tightrope walker with a safety net. Books can - indeed, should - touch you, shake you up, make you laugh and cry, make you feel uncomfortable: but they can't damage you. When you're writing, you enter a new world, become someone else and that gives you the space and the freedom to experience the extremes of passion and drama, explore all the dark, exciting things that you wouldn't want to live for real. I write because it's a way to live other people's lives.

Tyme's End by B.R. Collins