This expansive novel follows Harriet Baxter, as an aging woman in 1933 and her younger self in Glasgow in 1888. It tracks her relationship with an artist named Ned Gillespie, and his family. She becomes very attached to all of them. After a tragedy occurs, Harriet finds herself in the center of a notorious criminal trial. I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. The writing is very good and the characters are well drawn. ( )

I find something so cozy about reading a chunky historical fiction during the colder months. You can just wrap up in a blanket, have a hot drink nearby, and just lose yourself in it.

Even if it turns out to be not so nice.

Gillespie and I is one of those books that I find difficult to talk about because too much information would spoil it. So I'll just start with this:

Harriet Baxter is an elderly spinster living in London in the 1930's. She has taken it upon herself to write her memoirs, specifically about the period she was acquainted with Ned Gillespie, a forgotten Scottish artist and - according to Harriet, an unfairly neglected genius. Part of the reason for Gillespie's obscurity is that he destroyed most of his work before tragically taking his own life. Harriet describes him as her "dear friend and soul mate," revealing that she was closest to him and knew him better than members of his own family. She then looks back to the spring of 1888, when she first met Gillespie and his family at the International Exhibition in Glasgow.

And I'll say no more for now.

At first, this novel reads like something like [b:The Remains of the Day|28921|The Remains of the Day|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327128714s/28921.jpg|3333111] - as the story unfolds, the reader notices flaws and quirks that the narrator stays blissfully unaware of. For instance, Harriet considers herself a kind and generous person. But she can be quite cruel in her descriptions of others - Ned's sister, for instance, would be quite a beauty if her jaw did not "put one in mind of a frying pan." This streak of nastiness running through Harriet's narration hints at more sinister things to come. If you liked [b:The Little Stranger|7234875|The Little Stranger|Sarah Waters|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1407105269s/7234875.jpg|5769396], you will enjoy Gillespie and I. ( )

I have just this minute finished this book.

It is beautiful. It is deft. It is as well-constructed as anything I have read. It is thrilling. It has no easy answers. It is funny. It is, at times, cruel. It makes me despair that I have never visited Glasgow, and it makes me want to write more carefully, because it was obviously done with such great attention to its craft.

It's a really, really, really good book. ( )

It's hard to write a review of this book without giving away too much. At first it seems to be a fairly average Victorianesque novel with a maybe a whiff of family scandal in the offing. In fact about a quarter of the way in I began to wonder what all the great reviews were about. Then there was a little detail that seemed a bit strange. And another. Before you quite realize it things have taken a definite turn, and it becomes clear this is not the story that you thought you were reading. ( )

Loved this book. The characters, especially the character of Harriet. This becomes a creepy story and one wonders if it is a tale of evil or self delusion. very enjoyable ( )