Review of Perfect by Rachel Joyce

The book Perfect is a story of how something that seems small and insignificant can change the lives of not only an entire family, but extend to many others as well. In 1972 when 11 year old Byron learns from his best friend, James, that the government will be adding 2 seconds to the time in order to align the clocks properly with the sun's rotation, he becomes so obsessed with how this possibly could occur that he sets in motion a chain of events that will devastate not only his own family, but James' as well. Rachel Joyce writes a side-by-side tale of past and present, that begins somewhat slowly. It is written with such beautiful language that when the events begin to speed up, it's almost secondary to the flow of words. The past tale tells of the events of 1972, while the story in the present tells of a man named Jim, late of Besley House, a local mental institution that had closed and left its residents to find their own way, many of whom, like Jim, haven't been able to function in society for 40 or more years. These two stories eventually reach their separate crescendoes, while simultaneously bringing the reader to fully understand what has happened to each character and why. Ms. Joyce has quite a talent for writing about mental illness from the inside. Her descriptions of OCD from the sufferer's perspective are illuminating. The redemptive quality to this story is sad but also quite joyous for its characters. In all, an excellent read. I highly recommend it.