Sleeping in Flame, by Jonathan Carroll

I've been a big fan of Carroll's since I read Bones of the Moon at school. His is a distinctive voice: romantic, philosophical, often sinister and sometimes chilling. Set in Carroll's beloved Vienna, Sleeping in Flame is a beautifully told love story, a compelling mystery and a dark fantasy. In it, Walker Easterling (most of Carroll's characters have rather exotic, cool-sounding names) meets and falls in love with Maris York (see?), one of those characters one finds oneself falling in love with too, as the book progresses.

But as well as Maris, Walker discovers a gravestone that, like many in Austria, shows a photograph of the man it commemorates. And the man is the spitting image of Walker. Investigating this unsettling coincidence, Walker gradually discovers (as you can imagine) that it's no coincidence at all. His past goes back more deeply into history than his own life can account for. And his previous lives reveal more about him that he'd really like to know.

Discovering the truth of one's own character is a recurrent theme in Carroll's books, and that truth is often less than entirely positive. But for all the darkness, his books are just as often a celebration of life, and of love. I admit to being been less than convinced by a couple of his more recent books, but I still snap up a new Carroll with excited anticipation. (I just had the latest, Glass Soup, delivered. Unfortunately it hit the doormat while I was on holiday, and the dog ate quite a lot of it. Now it looks like the one I've had the longest.)