Divisadero is a unique book.

It opens in a remote farm in Northern California in the 1970s; a gentle man is eking out a living with his two daughters, Anna and Claire, and a young boy, Coop, from a neighbouring property - whose parents were killed in a horrific crime. The girls are devoted to Coop; Anna’s relationship with him develops into a sexual one and one day they are discovered by Anna’s father. His reaction is fierce and violent. From that moment, the family is irrevocably split. Like the family, Divisadero splits into three connected, yet unconnected, stories; in one of the strands the connections initially appear absolutely tenuous; they are geographically and even stylistically different, yet beneath them there is a quality and strength to the narrative that unites them into a whole. In another writer’s hands, this technique might become frustrating, but with Ondaatje the writing is so beautiful that the reader is just thrilled to go along for the ride, regardless of where it takes them. I must admit that I never connected that much with Ondaatje’s work, but Divisadero mesmerised me.

Mark Rubbo is Managing Director of Readings