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I didn't, but I wasn't really trying. It was enough just to relax and be carried along with the story. One thing that was evident early, was that the climax would crucially involve Isaac. The story centred around Isaac, but he didn't actually appear until near the end. All very enjoyably crafted. Thank you, Graeme.

SPOILER. Don't read this before "The Farm Hand". I've given it some more thought. Obviously the two stories are very different. "The Farm Hand" is deeply satisfying, with its rich variety of characters conditioned by the unending struggle with the farm. It ends as a tragedy, with one of the main characters dead (Sven), one of them broken (Ralph), and the main one left desolate (Robert). Continuing the story from that point would seem almost indecent. Instead, "The Redemption" is bleak, with only two main characters. Robert junior finds the rural world of his childhood in decline, with the local town crumbling into ruins. Yet the gradual understanding of his father's past shows him a degree of love which he has never experienced in his glittering television world. He becomes a more real person, even making the pilgrimage to Sven's grave with his father's ashes. The word "redemption" says it all. Anyway, these stories have introduced me to Rick Beck's writing, which is about to give me a lot more pleasure.

"Redemption" impressed me precisely because it was not more of the same. In a later era, a virtual outsider (Robert junior) gradually gained insight into his father's love life. After Robert senior had loved and lost twice, surely we can understand his emotional remoteness from his son and everybody else. Yet their meeting really was a redemption for Robert junior, whose warmth at the end of the story leaves us with hope that he may later let some real love into his own life.

A little gem. Thank you, Gee. Nobody ever said what the problem was, but everybody knew - even both Curt's parents. Also neither of them was at all worried about Curt's intimacy with Rob, a.k.a. "something else". All entirely feel-good and chuckle-worthy right through.

Here also. New Zealand produces a lot of food, but during and after the war we were severely rationed so that as much food as possible could go to the mother country. (We don't call Britain that now, but we did then.) We children were very healthy by modern standards. That was wandering off topic, but I heartily agree with everyone else's praise of "Their Finest Hour".