The writing is so eloquent and word-perfect, full of wonder and unexpected descriptions, especially of nature and the changing seasons, that it is an absolute delight to read from start to finish. But it’s also a dark and disturbing look at what can happen to those people who fall through the cracks, who never fit in and are misjudged or cast out by society at large.

This rather sad yet beautiful story is very much a portrait of loss and loneliness and the ways in which a loyal animal can bring joy and comfort into our lives. Initially, Ray and One Eye take their time getting used to one another, but as the weeks and months unfurl a strange kind of companionship ensues, and Ray, alone in the world for the first time after the recent death of his father, begins to find the courage to explore beyond the small, closeted domain he has inhabited his whole lonely life.īut Ray’s cautious baby steps into new territory beyond his local village brings him into conflict with other people, and when One Eye displays the viciousness which had once made him useful for badger baiting, Ray panics and goes on the run, taking his beloved dog with him… ‘Easy now,’ the kennels keeper tells you. You are leaning now, nearly dragging your body along the ground, as though carrying a great lump of fear. There’s nothing of the pariah I expected. And when you walk, there’s no violence, no malice in the way you move. You growl as the kennel keeper grabs you by the scruff and buckles the collar, but you don’t snap. You’re all on your own in a solitary confinement kennel by the recycling bins. Split into four seasons - the spill, simmer, falter, wither of the title - the book charts a year in the life of 57-year-old Ray, a social misfit, who buys a rescue dog - “a vicious little bugger” but a “good ratter, alright” - with one eye whom he dubs, appropriately, “One Eye”: And then I picked up Sara Baume’s Spill Simmer Falter Wither - which had been sitting on my bedside table since February - and I had to reassess my prejudice against dogs in literature, for in this beautifully written debut novel we follow the up-and-down relationship between one man and his dog, and it is truly an impressive achievement. (Please note this book has also been published by Windmill Books.)Įarlier this year I read the 2015 Giller Prize-winning Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis and I thought that may well put me off reading anything about fictional canines ever again. Fiction – paperback Tramp Press 215 pages 2015.

Spill simmer falter wither