Changes

Roberto Marias's week revolves around his visits to his psychiatrist on Monday and Thursday afternoons. On Mondays , he always passes the same woman in the street. Perhaps she's a patient too.

Maria Marias is an undercover cabiniericarabinieri. Technically. It emerges that he is in therapy in some way connected to his work. He needs drugs to sleep, has twice -weekly sessions and, on doctor's advice, takes very long walks. It is the walks that seem to be the most useful. They stop him thinking about things too much.

The book has a rambling aimless feel to it, with a plot that doesn't so much twist as meander. There's a continuous sense that something profound lurks just out of reach – unfortunately , that is where it stayed. The phrase 'never waste a minute' echoes through the lives of each of the characters and all of them fail to understand it, but as profundity goes, that's something of a cliché. In essence ''The Silence of the Wave'' is a story of quite ordinary heartbreak, peopled by characters who are more sympathetic than their history gives them any right to be. By no stretch is it a poor book but for me , it was an odd, uninspiring read.