White-water trip towards wisdom

In his 12th novel, Tim Parks revisits a subject that has been dominating his writing of late: the middle-aged man, plunged into crisis, forced to re- evaluate his life. Destiny (1999) revolved around a suicidal son and a crumbling marriage, Judge Savage (2003) involved a crumbling marriage and a distressed daughter. In Rapids, the divorce has already taken place, though death, rather than emotional pestilence, is the cause. Vince’s wife, Gloria, died suddenly of a stroke, though she did manage to phone him in the process. Now he is haunted by her final words: ‘I’m so, so sorry.’

Gloria was a keen kayaker, and Vince has taken her place on a white-water trip in Italy, partly to accompany his adolescent daughter, Louise. It’s not his sort of thing — the group is boisterous, over-genial — but it makes a pleasant change from his life at the multinational. Vince is too busy working in London to look after Louise, who lives with her aunt and uncle in the countryside.