I suspect that if you ask a type of reader to align William Boyd with another writer of his generation the name Sebastian Faulks will come up. Faulks is quoted on the book cover endorsing The Romantic. I think there’s quite a similarity in the two writers’ output. Boyd, like Faulks, is strongest in his depiction of the horrors and depravity of war, and the more bloody the hand to hand combat, the more striking the description. An early Boyd novel is An ice Cream War set in World War One, in Africa. Boyd doesn’t glamorise bloodshed, and in the Romantic the fate of Cashel’s comrade Croker will stay with me. Hand to hand fighting, as depicted in the Battle of Waterloo, was not fun.

Romantic by William Boyd review – a swashbuckling The Romantic by William Boyd review – a swashbuckling

All in all this is a thoroughly enjoyable, immensely readable book. It's not overlong as some fictional autobiographies can be and you get some very famous names thrown in for good measure as Cashel Greville Ross continues his adventures from Waterloo to the discovery of the source of the Nile. But one thing that does stand out is that he never gives up. He doesn’t dwell on his misfortune but simple strides boldly on to the next adventure. He is a glass half full guy, a romantic. Is he ‘the worlds biggest preposterous romantic fool, or a man who knows what true love is.’ When it comes to his description of love stories, and dalliances, Boyd is rather old fashioned. I did like Cashel’s definition of love “to care more about the person you loved than you did about yourself” (444). Do not expect deep introspection. The purpose is not to wonder what drives Cashel or what he is thinking. Instead, the goal is to surrender to a hugely satisfying good yarn that follows one colorful character through his multiple iterations – son and brother, lover, soldier, farmer, debtor, best-selling writer, husband and father, world traveler (and Ivan Turgenev look-alike). The real-life people he encounters along this journey only heightens the fun.

I love those books with a big sweeping story you can just sink into and lose yourself. A bit like the literary version of a big comfy blanket in Autumn. At the age of nine years he attended Gordonstoun school, in Moray, Scotland and then Nice University (Diploma of French Studies) and Glasgow University (MA Hons in English and Philosophy), where he edited the Glasgow University Guardian. He then moved to Jesus College, Oxford in 1975 and completed a PhD thesis on Shelley. For a brief period he worked at the New Statesman magazine as a TV critic, then he returned to Oxford as an English lecturer teaching the contemporary novel at St Hilda's College (1980-83). It was while he was here that his first novel, A Good Man in Africa (1981), was published.

The real and romantic: the life and work of Eric Ravilious The real and romantic: the life and work of Eric Ravilious

I suspect am also probably comparing it unfairly to the end of Logan Mountstuart in Any Human Heart (which I found really moving and actually left me a bit teary). In The Romantic we follow the life of Cashel Greville Ross who, you might be forgiven for thinking, was a real person, such is the mastery of Boyd's work. Ross begins life ignominiously enough but he makes the most of the opportunities that come his way. Although I can't help thinking that things happen to Mr Ross rather than him making them occur. In fact when he does have an idea of how to proceed in life it invariably means disaster to some extent. Frances Spalding's beautifully illustrated history reveals the hidden undercurrents that electrified the work of 1920s and 1930s artists … The author combines the august and measured commentary of the distinguished art historian with a gumshoe’s curiosity … This is a weighty and beautifully illustrated addition to the scholarship of its period' Because of that The Romantic is a very positive, and if not totally uplifting, an inspiring story. Admittedly it is a fair criticism that you do eventually come to expect the inevitable outcome of his endeavours. However Cashel is infectious and despite this you are willing him to succeed, I really liked him. I also loved the way that Boyd has Cashel brushing with historical events without actually effecting them, this makes it a more believable account.

I’m sitting with Eliza Caird (fka Doolittle, now just Eliza) in the restaurant of the Covent Garden Hotel, as she explains her transition from fresh-faced pop singer to the artist behind one of the rawest, smoothest albums of 2018. “I’m still super proud of the old stuff – I think I tapped into a side of me that I didn’t even know was there, and I’m really glad for it. But I always felt that there was something else I had to be doing. It was like being in a band, and then waking up and actually becoming a solo artist. Even though I kind of was a solo artist. That’s the best way I can put it. Do you want some nuts?” It’s a great achievement by Boyd to produce this book and it’s thoroughly enjoyable with flashes of humour, warmth and fascinating insights into some interesting real- life characters like Byron and Richard Burton from the Nineteenth century. The life of Cashel Greville Ross encompasses taking part in the battle of Waterloo, hanging out with Shelley and Byron in Italy, prison in London, running a brewery in New England, exploring Africa and being a consul in Trieste. His life begins in 1799 and stretches to the advent of the modern age in the late Nineteenth century. I was 17 when I got signed and swooped up into the industry side of things. It was really fun and exciting, you know; we were hustling, we were doing this pop thing. But, I always found myself coming head to head with them, and feeling like I wasn’t being true to myself in one way or another. In the end it wasn’t for me, I’m too controlling, and I want to be able to make music the way I want to do it.” Figures such as Ravilious, Knights, Dunbar, Nash and Spencer re-interpreted Britain and its landscape for a new world, and this thoughtful and generously illustrated book charts their progress as well as the environment and society they sought to represent'

Romantic: the real life of Cashel Greville Ross : a novel The Romantic: the real life of Cashel Greville Ross : a novel

It’s often been said that within our lifetimes, we live many lives. Certainly that’s the case with William Boyd’s latest protagonist, Cashel Greville Ross.

We made our way up to the piano nobile where LB greeted us. He is quite short and, not to put too fine a point on it, very plump. His face is plump, his hands are plump, his fingers are plump. Hair receding, also. He introduced us to his mistress, Contessa Guiccioli, very young, 18–20, I’d say, who matches her paramour in plumpness but, however, is very beautiful with it, speaking hardly a word of English but, looking at her very ample figure, let’s say its noticeable prominences, it is not her anglophony that explains her attraction to LB, I would venture. Engaging and illuminating … a perfect aid to those interested in the influences, painting methods and lives of well-known artists, but also anyone who wishes to discover less famous artists working in a variety of styles' Most of all, this romantic will fall head over heels for a glamorous Contessa named Raphaella, who will never stray far from his mind. Although to this reader, Raphaella came across as vainglorious, manipulative and materialistic as well as (of course) beautiful, this is, after all the romantic era, and Cashel is the ultimate romantic. Two strong women become central to the story; Contessa Raphaella Rezzo; and widow Mrs Frances (Frannie) Broome. Both women are interesting but from their character descriptions, and their actions, it becomes difficult to differentiate between the two, who occupy different parts of the world, and the narrative. Boyd uses the description ‘cavaliere servante’ to describe Raphaella.