I really like the way Jacobson writes – which makes it strange that I haven’t read more of him. I think that’s an error I need to be correcting.
“What Will Survive of Us” is no different i.e. it’s written very well: not over-blown or harsh, suitably pacy, accessible. [The title, by the way, comes from the last line in Philip Larkin’s famous poem An Arundel Tomb: “what will survive of us is love”.]
And love is clearly the topic under the microscope here, for the most part deftly and delicately handled. However, I did struggle with the excursion into S&M territory, not from the point of view of subject matter but rather wondering whether Lily and Sam’s corsets, stilettos, ropes and masks were entirely necessary. If you lost that plot thread – which is clearly a major one – you’d lose about a third of the book, but I wonder if ‘the message’ would suffer. I think not.
And it might have been better at the end if… But no spoilers! Read it; see what you think.
Ian Gouge - Writer 