Death of a style of life
A CAUTIOUS APPROACH is the 45th and final novel by Stanley Middleton, who won the 1974 Booker Prize with Holiday and died last year aged 88. As in many earlier works, his setting is Beechnall, a fictitious quiet town in middle England, populated by characters who are for the most part middle-aged, educated individuals of the English middle classes.
George Taylor was an English teacher until ill health and a recommendation of fresh air caused him to retrain as a postman. Taking his constitutional one Christmas morning, he makes the acquaintance of Andrew Barron who, with the proviso “I’m heterosexual”, invites him home. Here he meets Mirabel, Andrew’s intriguing ex-fiancée, and a very tentative attraction is sparked; one with the potential to destabilise George’s life.
