Hello there, my URL compels me to ask you for all your thoughts on The Charioteer! Why did you like it, what do you think makes it special? Favourite bits? I would love to hear more.....
Omg absolutely!! I absolutely adore Renault's writing (have read the Alexander trilogy, TLOTW, and am in the middle of The King Must Die and Promise/Purposes of Love). The Charioteer left me feeling utterly unmoored and, after finishing, I instantly knew it was my all time favourite book. I probably knew it was going to be my favourite after chapter 2.
My favourite bits of the novel feel pretty basic, but: the wedding day and the wedding night had me grinning like a maniac while listening to the audiobook in public. Chapters 14-16 are tough to read, but elevate the book to a different level. Laurie's internal conflict is so complex and nuanced and real that I can hardly bear it. I also fully respect the isolated moments between Andrew and Laurie (how Renault could make me go from forgetting Andrew existed to making my heart physically hurt for him, I'm not sure).
And off the back of that: Renault plays with your allegiances so well, too. It'd have been so easy to make Andrew less likeable or make Laurie even slightly more accepting of intimacy with Ralph, but she didn't. Similarly, the way the book slowly reveals the dynamic between Ralph and Laurie is SO bold, I can't get enough of it and already wish I could read it for the first time again.
And Renault has such a way with writing three-dimensional characters and unique relationships that consume me. I have an intense desire to analyse every sentence of this book -- but it's like the Hydra. When you focus on one area, a new area pops up and you can't manage to cover all of them at once.
Without mentioning anything obvious, I also live where the story takes place (even have a bomb shelter in my back garden), which makes it feel extra special to me!
