Rain

Karen Duve

Not a book to read if you are feeling down, but if you like your novels dark and disturbing, with the odd sprinkling of black humour, then give this a go. Although I didn't feel any particular sympathy for the characters, I still needed to know what happened - compulsive reading. I was drawn in by the vivid descriptions of the weather (relentlessly wet) and the isolation on the characters. Oh, and there were lots of slugs!

Extract

The house soon turned out to have drawbacks. It groaned. Usually it groaned once between three and four in the morning, and sometimes again at around four-thirty. The sound woke Leon and Martina up on their first few nights. Then they integrated it into their dreams, which from now on were full of creaking bridges and falling trees. There was also the new wallpaper. It did not stay stuck everywhere. Water oozed from the wall in various places, dissolving the paste or leaving tidemarks which resembled unsightly patches of sweat. Water dripped down the insides of the window frames. 'It will get better when it stops raining,' said Leon.

Parallels