Wilson P 2012 The visiting angel

Do you believe in angels?  For the afternoon I spent reading this novel, I believed hard.

I also believe in good people, and the support worker protagonist Patrick is good people. So is sexual health nurse Sarah. As Patrick, Sarah and Saul tell their stories they also tell the sad and upliftng stories of people whose lives could use some help from an angel.

Flashbacks to Patrick's childhood give vivid and believable vignettes of the cruelties children inflict on each other, the naivity of a boy trying to fit in, and the fierce protective love of his big brother who can't protect him when their world shatters.

Particularly enjoyed the penultimate chapter: crossing the void was beautifully written and nailbitingly tense.

First line:

His brother, as a boy, was unafraid of heights.

Last line:

He is not comfortable in the water himself, but sitting high in the rafters of some anonymous municipal pool, with the light bouncing off the walls of the polished tile and his son nestled beside him, he is happy to worship her diligence, the steady strokes, the accrual of lengths, the way she smiles unselfconsciously at nothing in particular when she climbs fresh from the water, and the beauty in her face that she has won, that this unexpected life has bequeathed her.