New Zealand author, Elizabeth Knox, is never an easy read. In this sequel to her cult novel,The Vintner's Luck, we're once more introduced to Xas – an angel with a soft-spot for human lovers.
Having exchanged 19th-century Burgundy for pre-war Hollywood, Xas decides to embrace the exhilarating new field of aviation, an obsession that brings him in contact with a Howard Hughes like figure, Conrad Cole.
A more grounded presence in his life, however, proves to be Flora, a film editor with secrets of her own. Knox's evocation of Thirties California is dreamy, and her characters, interestingly warped.
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