Review: Stoner by John Williams

A powerful and sad story, beautifully written, well paced with moments of wisdom and insight into life, love and relationships. There were surprising elements, in particular the reaction of Archer Sloane to WW1 and then Stoner to WW2, alongside events that unfolded as they could have been predicted. Thus, for me, Grace chose an unsurprising way of life as an adult and the love affair reached its inevitable conclusion. Most of all, I liked Stoner, and I so wanted him to be happier than he seemed to be for most of his life. Then, as the book ended I felt he was someone who had grown to be happy in his own skin.