It has been a while since I read any Peter Carey, and The Chemistry of Tears is as solid a piece of work as you would expect from a two-time Booker Prize winner. I’m happy to recommend it, though with a couple of caveats.
Firstly, I wondered if the main characters were, towards the end, edging dangerously close to caricature. You knew exactly how interactions between pairs of them were going to turn out. Maybe it was repetition which let it down. And secondly I felt as if there were unresolved things at the end: the fate of the original automaton and the boy whose present it was to be; the proposed x-ray (and what that might find); and whether Amanda was truly barking mad or just brilliant.
Having said all that, I’m going to add Carey to my ‘to read’ list: perhaps Bliss or Illywhacker.
Ian Gouge - Writer 