'I still don't know whether he was done for before we met, whether his heart was already claimed, or smashed. Whether the love story pieced together in these pages is mine, or hers.'
The day after her wedding, Donella Ferguson Watson wakes up shackled to a man haunted by the past. The lonely days become weeks, months. Her husband Hugh, a prison doctor, will offer no explanation for their sexless marriage. She comes to suspect the answer lies with a hunger-striking suffragette who was force fed and held in solitary confinement. But what really happened between Hugh and his prisoner patient? A Petrol Scented Spring is a riveting novel of repression, jealousy and love, and the struggle for women's emancipation.
Inventing a fictional narrative for her real-life principals, Close writes with breathless wit, dizzying passion, a quick sympathy for her two heroines, and an unflinching eye for the mechanics of the medical procedures inflicted on prisoners of conscience. -Kirkus Reviews
'Intensely observant and articulate, packed with life.' -John Le Carre
'Ajay Close makes you glad to be alive and living now.' -Fay Weldon
'Holds a deserved place in the Pantheon of Scotland's exciting contemporary novelists.' -Val McDermid
'Ajay Close is brilliant.' --Fay Weldon
A fascinating insight into one of the most compelling stories in the history of the women s suffrage movement. -The Times
Ajay Close's writing hums with an electric tension, her dialogue is superb, as is her insight into the complex mix of human imagination and emotion. This is a truly gripping novel, one which had me totally involved with the lives of the central characters. -Scottish Review
Uncompromising in its honesty and compelling in its narration . . . Ajay Close has hit on a real-life story that may prove to be one of the gems of the year. -The Herald
A captivating and nuanced read . . . Close writes witty and humorous dialogue that has the duck, dive and jab of a boxing match between characters. -Scottish Review of Books
A thought-provoking and revealing read . . . Close s sophisticated writing is never less than engrossing. --The Scotsman
Cunningly constructed and well written. -The Sunday Times
A beautifully written, accomplished novel that vibrates with authenticity. If you are looking for a novel that brings you into another world and leaves you thinking about it for days after you finish, this is it. -The Bottle Imp, best Scottish books of 2015
An engrosssing read filled with rich relationships and keen observations. --Buzz Magazine
