A Review by Ruth Hunter of Bertrams

Where to start with this fantastic book? It’s a ‘storyless story’ about stories, and yet it also follows the traditional plot of a hero(ine) who overcomes adversity. Thomas throws in references to literary theory, science, knitting, mythical beasts, OCD, fairies and more, and also adds a dash of romance. Meg is trapped in a failed relationship in a damp cottage in Dartmouth, with very little money and much frustration over the ‘serious’ novel she’s been trying to write for a decade. In the meantime, she’s eked out an existence writing teen genre novels, and composing book reviews for a newspaper. When she accidentally reviews a book which posits that we all have eternal life, and our current lives are in fact in a Second World, as we’ve already created heaven in a previous existence, her luck changes. In this novel, Thomas cleverly discusses the nature of the novel itself – and the nature of the universe.