Victor Maskell, art historian, member of the establishment, disappointed romantic and double agent, is finally publicly exposed. Having lived a lifetime of several lies, now ill and facing humiliation, he decides to tell his story - before anyone else does. An Irishman who has become a honorary Englishman, Maskell is cold, opportunistic, laconic, elusive, articulate and ruefully despairing. Betrayal of friends, causes, ideals and self lie at the heart of this intelligently virtuoso performance which is also concerned with loss of love and honour. Banville's multi-layered narrative with its gallery of colourful characters is a lament for a lost world as well as for the bright young men destroyed by their own dazzling egos and greedy pursuit of excitement. Eloquent, stylish, atmospheric and often elegaic, The Untouchable is viciously funny and curiously moving. Above all it is a love story dominated by Victor's hopeless unrequited passion for the unworthy Nick. A fine novel, and Banville's best since Mefisto (1987). No contemporary English novelist could have written so astute a study of England at the mercy of its own duplicity; small wonder it left the London literary establishment uncomfortable.
Eileen Battersby