A Brief Moment of Sunshine
"A Brief Moment of Sunshine" is the second work of fiction from John Manuel. It traces the life story of Claire Mason, whom we met in John's first novel "The View From Kleoboulos".
Once again it's a story riddled with unexpected twists, human tragedy and yet focuses on how someone can triumph over seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
The action spans several decades, from the 1980's to 2014 and moves between South West England and various parts of Greece.
"A Brief Moment of Sunshine" fills out Claire's past, which is both tragic and traumatic. The action shifts between the 1980's and the present day, with several important events in the interim being developed, thus enlightening the reader about how Claire becomes the person that we met in "Keloboulos". The story finally closes out in 2014, some seven years after June 2007, when "Kleoboulos" ended with events which take place at Lindos.
The cover photography was carried out by a very creative
team who used to work on Rhodes, Gallery Photography, run by Chris and Karen Watts. They really did some beautiful work, but sadly, Chris passed away recently and they no longer trade.
If you are going to read "A Brief Moment of Sunshine", then it's a good idea to have first read "The View From Kleoboulos." It's not going to be an essential, but will probably add to one's experience of reading "Sunshine". By far the majority of reviews on the amazon.uk site are very positive, plus there's a nice one on the amazon.us site too. You can't win 'em all though, eh?
Be warned though, if you do read "Sunshine" first, there may just be a couple of spoilers regarding "Kleoboulos". Not everything is given away, but some things are, which is why it's a better idea to have first read "Kleoboulos."
Incidentally, there are quite a number of Greek locations in the new book too, although not perhaps as many as in "Kleoboulos." The Greek locations tend to take us to other parts of the country, to other islands too, this time. Not so much of the action is centred on Lindos as in "Kleoboulos," but there is still plenty for the Grecophile to absorb his or herself in! Needless to say, it's not a book about Greece per se, but about some characters and their lives, which just so happen to have been lived partly in Greece.
"Brief Moment" trivia...
For those who may be interested, the majority of the main characters and a few of the marginal ones in the story were given Pink Floyd-related names. This was purely for fun. Names which have a Pink Floyd connection are listed in no particular order below.
Mason (Charles and Claire’s surname)
Wright (Christine and Alyson’s maiden name)
Waters (Julia and Dean’s surname)
Barrett (Claire’s maiden name)
Renwick, Wallis (Two of Alan Evans’ henchmen)
Parry (Estate agent who sold Claire’s house)
McBroom (Overcoat man)
White (Terry’s surname. His nickname, which the character Alan Evans uses, gives the game away)
Guthrie (Tristan’s surname)
Geesin (Sunny’s surname)
John didn't use Gilmour as it's not such a common name and so was a little too obvious! If you are having trouble establishing the connection which some of the above names have with Pink Floyd, then you’re probably not an anorak, as is he. Be grateful!
"An excellent story that had me gripped from the start. [It] had me reading at 3am, then reading as slowly as I could because I didn't want it to end! I still can't believe this book wasn't planned before The View fom Kleoboulos. Every character you feel you know their anxiety and joy at the twists and turns that keep you hooked up to the last page. This was a joy to read."
"This is John Manuel’s second novel and in my opinion it moves his writing into the league of the well known names [like John Grisham and Jeffrey Archer]."
"I found this book a very good read. Once reading, I didn't want to put it down. The story followed on nicely from The View from Kleoboulos but you didn't have to read that [book] first to understand the story line."
"It is a positive roller coaster, thought I was on the last pages and find there was yet another hour and a half of story to go. I think this puts John Manuel in the 'big time' novelist league."
"Lovely story. Really enjoyed the book, just wanted to keep reading. Would definitely read further books by this author."
One of the shots that was taken for the cover shoot for "A Brief Moment of Sunshine". It's not the one that was eventually used. More can be viewed in an album on the book's Facebook page.
The shoot was done during December (yes, December!) at Haraki, on the East coast of the island of Rhodes, Greece, where John lives.
A video intro to "Brief Moment"...
The original photo of Clifton Suspension bridge, from which the back cover artwork was produced. The photo was kindly supplied by Allison Wiffen, of Allison Wiffen Ceramics, whose blog post "It’s Bristol My Lover!” was where the photo first appeared.
John Manuel in the city of his birth, Bath, UK, where some of the action takes place in "A Brief Moment of Sunshine".