Metronome: The 'unputdownable' BBC Two Between the Covers Book Club Pick

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Using flashbacks Watson takes us back to Aina and Whitney’s life in an unspecified country which is very much like ours, but with small yet noticeable differences. It is mysterious, intriguing, has more than a hint of the dystopian and examines the very depth of humanity which ticks a lot of boxes. The reason that they are there in the bleak landscape is because they had a child despite not being given permission to have one by the authorities. Aina starts to question whether Whitney has been telling the whole truth and as she plans her escape she reflects on the chapter of her life that led to being exiled. The figures were all cast from his body, though they seemed to have entirely distinct personalities and outlooks.

The clock also elevates the treacherousness of the landscape, leaving them trapped on this beautifully barren island with only their memories, their guilt, and each other. Beautifully in fact, as we are literally exposed to the elements, so cleverly crafted in this debut novel. Aina’s observation of how the house feels at one point is expertly written; “time passes differently now, with more people in the room. It is also the number of sections on a clock face, months of the year, days of Christmas, apostles, stations of the cross, inches in a foot, face cards in a deck, signs of the zodiac, stages of the hero’s journey—twelve stations of the moon and sun, stages of life .Taut, unsettling and so completely charged with both tension and emotion, I found myself captivated by Metronome. The book is all very mysterious and there is little explanation into why permission was required to have children or what is currently going on preventing the warden from turning up. Interesting then that Watson’s proof title for the book was ‘Not All that Is Hidden is Lost’ referencing the Hemingway theory again, where hidden could be taken to mean the future and lost being loss in a physical and emotional way. The festive holidays are the perfect time to escape the cold, cosy up with a hot drink and lose yourself in a new book.

With echoes of Emily St John Mandel and Megan Hunter , this haunting literary thriller is about survival, loss and the binds that unite and break us. Metronome by Tom Watson is mysterious, intriguing, and has more than a whiff of the dystopian about it. They’ve kept busy – Aina with her garden, her jigsaw, her music; Whitney with his sculptures and maps – but something is not right. Where did the inspiration for your novel come from, and has the final version strayed far from your original concept?Survival on ‘The Limits ’ is key, based on 8-hourly pills from a timed clock dispensary that inadvertently tether them both to the island, to each other, their quest for freedom, and what they do to achieve it. Their prison does not have any locks or barred windows, but a house on an island and a lot of ocean… ah, and one more thing: every 8 hours they have to take a pill. It was filmed on Yell, off the Isle of Skye, with its dramatic landscape and far-reaching vistas, similarly to ‘The Limits’ where Metronome is set. The claustrophobic feel of two people spending all of their time together, with no other human company is chilling, and the little niggles of doubt and blame between them, that grow with an intensity throughout is impeccably handled. There is no doubting Watson’s talent at the sentence level, but his lack of rigour around core ideas left me frustrated and unconvinced.

Dystopias in which the state has seized control of women’s bodies are everywhere, from Sophie Mackintosh’s Blue Ticket to Christina Dalcher’s Vox and Joanne Ramos’s The Farm.Aina is planning an escape and works out a plan to enable her to gain an extra pill to allow her to venture further on the island, as she believes Whitney has been keeping secrets from her about what is out there. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. He was shortlisted with this debut, Metronome, for the Bridport Prize, and with another piece, ‘Magda’, at the Bristol Short Story Prize.

Aina tends the garden, cooks, helps harvest anything useful from the 12 shipwrecks that lie about on the beach while Whitney has his projects. A strange tale of a couple sentenced to a remote croft for 12 years - a punishment for having a child without permission. When a stranger arrives with a daughter in tow, offering fear and hope, the stage is set for some impossible choices to be made. But when there is more confirmation that they are not alone, the stage is set for a confrontation and an acknowledgement of betrayal and even death. Writing consultant and ex publisher Andrew Wille champions a writing concept based on the use of elements, not only as physical external forces but tools that can equally be used to enhance writing itself.This grossly oversimplified understanding has created many complexities in our lives and taken away from us the very fundamentals of the joy of living. In Love Is Not Enough, Mark’s first Audible Original, you’ll follow five real people over the course of six months as they navigate f--ked up romantic situations, ranging from dating app addiction to marital affairs to absurd fantasies. PS: I received a digital copy of this book at my request, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. Metronome might well be a brave new world created by Tom Watson, as insightful and as premonitory as Orwell’s 1984. Wondering whether this is a hero story, how does one effectively define a hero – and can you be your own hero?