This 400-plus-page work is another epic novel from Boyd. In a similar vein to The New Confessions and Any Human Heart, The Romantic is fictionalized biography. Readers are immediately drawn into the story, cannot fail to like the protagonist, Cashell Greville Ross, and find themselves almost believing that he was a true figure. The Romantic takes place over the 19th century, with Ross fighting as a youth in the Battle of Waterloo. Subsequently, he spends time with luminaries such as Shelley and Byron. He travels across Europe and also spends time in the U.S., India and Africa. All of human life is on display. Boyd's genius lies in combining the personal and the historical, triumph and tragedy, luck and loss. It is a vivid portrait of a life and a sweeping panorama of an age. Towards the end of his life, Ross wonders how he became the person he is today, the extent to which he will be haunted by his origins in the past, and how his life differed from the futures he previously imagined. These are all valid considerations relevant to us all. 10 out of 10.
By William Boyd