Title: Unjustly neglected classic
Product review: A triumph of technique, The Eighth Day may be the ultimate achievement of Wilder's novelistic career - in microcosm, a story of the hundred years from 1845 to the Second World War, the novel focuses on two families in one town and the aftermath of a murder. While the writing gets bogged down in verbiage from time to time, the characters are exquisitely drawn, and the tale is gripping and powerfully told, without sentimentality, and completely unpredictable. The murder mystery at the story's heart is, alas, a great big red herring and not particularly satisfying - but those who read the book for its evocative portrayal of a bygone America and its uniquely Wilder-esque turns of phrase will be thrilled and moved.
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