Cleaver by Tim Parks

Harold Cleaver, the charming, egotistic, successful British broadcast journalist, scores one of the highs of his career by conducting a scathing interview of the current U. S. president. This success is tempered by the release of a novel written by his son featuring him in an unflattering light as the protagonist of the story. These two events precipitate Cleaver’s leaving in a huff for a mountainous region of Germany near the Austrian border to be alone and unreachable for a while. Cleaver cannot escape himself, of course, and the novel unfolds with Cleaver’s reflections on all of the other highs and lows of his life as he settles into a cabin with the help of a nearby family and the companionship of the family’s dog. This is a well-written, unique story with an engaging character. - JP