David McBride is a psychiatrist. He appears to be a patient doctor and good at his job. His new patient Elizabeth sits in his room and says little. David has a lively and fun friend, Gus, and he introduces David to Caravaggio and this turns out to be his way in to reach Elizabeth. We also meet David's wife and Bar, who he had a previous relationship with and has now married his best friend. The novel moves from the claustrophobic consulting room and Gus' shabby room to the extensive beauty of Rome. Elizabeth's story resonates with David and his life changes. A good read. ( )

An intriguing glimpse at the therapeutic relationship with the central focus being that of grief and an insight over time of the assistance to live life with meaning.

“After so devastating a disappointment it would make sense to turn to a Neil”

I read one of Vickers’ previous novels in my pre-blogging days, Miss Garnet’s Angel, and remember that it was mostly about a painting of Tobit or Tobias or Toblerone or some such personage. I did remember enjoying it though. And thus I seemed to be stepping into very familiar territory with The Other Side of You, which has a simple enough narrative structure – a few days in the life of psychologist and analyst Davey McBride, in which he treats some patients and interacts with colleagues and tries to figure out why his wife is being a bit strange.

One patient proves particularly challenging, a suicide outside the normal mood of desperation and cries for help; rather a woman who had no wish to continue living. Our protagonist feels a deep affinity with Mrs Cruikshank, but she takes a frustratingly long time to open up to him. What she does yield is a passion for Caravaggio, one shared by the doctor’s mentor. And this is where Vickers shines – her narrative is a pleasant enough construct for an emotional response to a series of Caravaggio’s artworks; Dr McBride returns to the National Gallery at one point and falls in love with Caravaggio’s The Last Supper.

The novel is religious without being proselytising – Vickers engrosses us in the culture of faith, not the practice. McBride makes numerous references to the men on the road to Emmaus, a story I’ve never understood well (what is its point? That Jesus chose to reveal Himself resurrected away from the crowd? That He wanted to test their loyalty first?) and delves into the tragedy of the men who have just lost their friend and leader, rather than the joy of reunion.

*minor spoiler alert* I’m so bored with infidelity. It seems to be in every book. It’s always the slightly controversial story on the side. That’s all I’m going to say here – Vickers takes the adultery storyline quite a lot further than most, with it being the focus of both Elizabeth and Olivia’s stories. Is there no other source of drama in adult interaction? *end spoilers*

Clever writing, fascinating characters and a bridge into the art world. I want to take the book with me back to all those Roman churches The Book Accumulator dragged me around when I was 14. ( )

I absolutely loved this. I'm not really that interested in art but it was such a fascinating story, and so well written. As soon as I finished it I was so tempted to flip back to the first page and start it all over again, which is pretty rare for me. Deeply moving and engrossing. ( )

A very elegant and well written story that tells of the relationship between a patient and her analyst which helps both of them. A story of love, loss and acceptance. ( )