‘In no art is there closer connection between our delight in the work, and our admiration of the workman’s mind, than in architecture, and yet we rarely ask the builder’s name’, muses Baines, the protagonist of Anthony Quinn’s debut novel. The quote itself comes from nineteenth-century art critic, John Ruskin; one of many architectural references cited throughout. This sets The Rescue Man apart from the umpteen million other historical texts set around the World War II era: Baines is an unlikely hero who uses his architectural knowledge to navigate collapsed buildings and rescue those trapped. Amidst the devastation of the Blitz, he forges a strong bond with photographer Bella, who he assists in capturing the beauty of a city blasted by bombing. However, their doomed love affair threatens to destroy the shaky foundations of her marriage and their chances of safety. But the real love story driving Quinn’s novel is Baines’s enduring heartache at the destruction of Liverpool and its architecture – the novel itself reads like a love letter to the often-maligned city, ‘the Venice of the North’.