Metronome: The 'unputdownable' BBC Two Between the Covers Book Club Pick

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Stylish and thoughtful … The eerie claustrophobia of the setting will stay with the reader for a long while.' Literary Review

BBC Arts has announced that Between The Covers is returning to BBC Two for a fourth series this May, with Sara Cox hosting.Stylish and thoughtful ... The setup is delicious ... A talented writer. The eerie claustrophobia of the setting will stay with the reader for a long while. The relationship between his characters is memorably, and often wittily, drawn * Literary Review * I came out of this book thinking I had mixed feelings about it, but it's starting to dawn on me that it's more an absence of any feeling at all.

You never really learn anything about the outside society so you have to just imagine a future population controlled civilization also subject to the poisonous effects of climate change. That this society also takes the time and trouble to exile people to isolated locations but still provide resources and communications becomes a bit of a stretch. Also the idea that people would wait 12 years before doing something further about their situation is also unbelievable. It is a first novel though, and it did build suspense and drama effectively towards the end. With echoes of Emily St John Mandel and Megan Hunter, this haunting literary thriller is about survival, loss and the binds that unite and break us. Chilling, eerie and powerful -- Elizabeth Macneal She is ambitious, industrious, working hard to create whatever they need and investigating their surroundings. He is passive and compliant, spending time on his art projects and acquiescing to their fate. It was interesting to find out that their crime was to go against the governments rules over having a baby. We are told that they went against strict laws and Aina fell pregnant. It’s all very The Handmaid’s tale although we never find out what the rules are exactly and why they are in place. Government control would be the obvious conclusion. I thought the storyline was really interesting and not like anything I had ever read before. The author clearly has a great imagination for creating worlds not quite like our own, but scarily close to what could happen in real life. Both Whitney and Aina were very complex characters but unfortunately I did not seem to warm to either of them. I wonder if this may have been the point? As both characters have lots of secrets that they keep to themselves throughout the novel and we don't ever really get to understand what they all are.The couple's environment while beautiful is a little too harsh for easy living, and the couple's personalities are contrasting rather than complimentary:

I love dystopian thrillers and Metronome was a really intriguing book which stayed with me long after I put it down. Aina and Whitney have been exiled onto an island due to breaking their home’s fertility laws. As a condition of their stay, they must take a pill that is dispensed every 8 hours or they die, however their date of parole is coming up and they will soon be free – or will they?

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Tom Watson has conjured a relationship corroded by compromise and capitulation, and worked it into an extraordinary love story - or rather, a story of what love looks like when affection and trust have fallen away * The Times * Aina and Whitney now live in a croft – the location of the island, the country from which they came and when the exile takes place are not made clear. It could be anywhere at any time – and this uncertainty contributes to the disconnected other-world milieu of the novel. When the story begins, Whitney and Aina are almost at the end of their exile – in a few days, they expect to be paroled and to return to their home. I loved it … You could feel the chill of the wind … Fantastic; it's a great book' Sara Cox, BBC Two 'Between the Covers' I read this in two sittings, inhaling every word. I think we can conclusively say that dystopian/speculative fiction is my favourite genre. In the same article, Tom adds: “I couldn’t be more delighted to work with Emma and the team at Bloomsbury to publish Metronome. They’ve shown such enthusiasm and support, and I feel humbled to see Metronomeat the same house as legends such as Madeline Miller, Ben Myers (shortlisted for the 2014 BSSP), and so many other heroes.”