The Service of Clouds - Delia Falconer

Remember when Michael Ondaatje was all the rage back in the 1990s? I was a fully paid-up fanboy, still am actually, so this very Ondaatjian novel was a pleasant throwback for me.

The imagery, mainly threaded around the ideas of clouds and photography, is beautifully sustained and creates an ethereal, almost eerie, mood. The odd overwrought moment is forgivable when the style is as rich as this.

I also enjoyed the setting, the Blue Mountains in the first half of the twentieth century.