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The Continuity Girl
‘A wistfully entertaining romantic comedy spanning forty years of social and cinematic history, which offers a hommage to one of Billy Wilder’s greatest films and does it proud.’ Jonathan Coe
1969. Hollywood descends on a tiny Scottish village for the making of Billy Wilder’s most ambitious picture yet: a sprawling epic detailing The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. But the formidable director and his crew soon come into conflict with Jim Outhwaite, a young scientist seeking evidence for monsters...
2014. Stuck just a short walk from the East London street where she grew up, ambitious Film Studies lecturer Gemma MacDonald is restless and hungry for change. A job offer in the Highlands seems to offer escape – but only at a cost to her relationships with family and an equally ambitious American boyfriend.
Then a lost print of Gemma’s favourite film turns up, and with it, an idea…
Two stories, separated by 45 years, are set on collision course – on the surface of Loch Ness, under the shadow of a castle – by the reappearance of the continuity girl herself: April Bloom.
1969. Hollywood descends on a tiny Scottish village for the making of Billy Wilder’s most ambitious picture yet: a sprawling epic detailing The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. But the formidable director and his crew soon come into conflict with Jim Outhwaite, a young scientist seeking evidence for monsters...
2014. Stuck just a short walk from the East London street where she grew up, ambitious Film Studies lecturer Gemma MacDonald is restless and hungry for change. A job offer in the Highlands seems to offer escape – but only at a cost to her relationships with family and an equally ambitious American boyfriend.
Then a lost print of Gemma’s favourite film turns up, and with it, an idea…
Two stories, separated by 45 years, are set on collision course – on the surface of Loch Ness, under the shadow of a castle – by the reappearance of the continuity girl herself: April Bloom.
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Published March 1, 2018
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About the author
Patrick Kincaid
5 books39 followersLike April in the novel, Patrick is an Anglo-American. He was born to an English mother in Amarillo, Texas, but moved to the UK when his American father was stationed in Oxfordshire with the USAF in the mid-1970s. Unlike his older brother, Patrick was sent to a local rather than a base school, and very quickly went native. He eventually gained a PhD in English Literature at the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon. For the past 14 years, he has taught English to secondary school children in an inner-city comprehensive in Coventry.
Long a fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, Patrick contributed one of his own, ‘The Doll and His Maker’, to MX Publishing’s SHERLOCK’S HOME: THE EMPTY HOUSE, an anthology of pastiches put together to raise funds for the preservation of one of the author’s former homes. As well as writing fiction, Patrick is a keen poet. He was short-listed for the Bridport Poetry Prize in 2012 and long-listed for the Fish Poetry Prize in 2013.
Long a fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, Patrick contributed one of his own, ‘The Doll and His Maker’, to MX Publishing’s SHERLOCK’S HOME: THE EMPTY HOUSE, an anthology of pastiches put together to raise funds for the preservation of one of the author’s former homes. As well as writing fiction, Patrick is a keen poet. He was short-listed for the Bridport Poetry Prize in 2012 and long-listed for the Fish Poetry Prize in 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
September 1, 2018
Book Reviewed by Stacey on www.whisperingstories.com
The Continuity Girl is set in two era’s some 45 years apart and between London and Inverness, Scotland – The home of Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle.
In 1969 film director Billy Wilder and his crew have descended into Inverness, particularly the loch and castle for the filming of ‘The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes’. Local scientist and Marine Biologist Jim Outhwaite is not happy. The filming is disrupting his research into the Loch Ness and the Monster that may inhabit her.
2013, Dr. Gemma MacDonald who is a film studies lecturer has been offered the job of a lifetime in Scotland. A rare reel of the Sherlock Holmes film has been found in an attic. Given that Gemma is most knowledgeable on the film, she has been asked to oversee the release of the missing section and also see if she can find someone to interview who was present at the making of the movie.
I’ll start by saying that I found this book a little hit and miss and hard to follow at times. Parts I was really intrigued about and glued to the pages, others I found myself skipping past. This is in no way a reflection of the brilliant writing and plot though, more my interest.
You see I’ve never heard of Billy Wilder – Surprising seen as he directed some of the last centuries biggest movies, I also had never heard of the film from the book either. Plus I’ve never been to Inverness, nor have an interest in the Loch Ness Monster. Not a great combination when the book is mainly a fictional account of the event surrounding the making of the movie. I ended up Googling about the movie and the strange goings-on that occurred and the reception it received.
The plot has been well thought-out and the shift between the two time periods was done smoothly and so that you knew exactly which era you were in. I love that the two periods were essentially weaving between one another. The characters were a delight to read about and I enjoyed getting to know them, even if I did find Gemma’s parents a little condescending and annoying at times.
There are quite a few memorable moments in the storyline and a good few funny sections too. There are also lots of cultural references about the 1960’s that if you were around in that decade you will enjoy being taken back in time.
The book is certainly different and definitely worth a read.
The Continuity Girl is set in two era’s some 45 years apart and between London and Inverness, Scotland – The home of Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle.
In 1969 film director Billy Wilder and his crew have descended into Inverness, particularly the loch and castle for the filming of ‘The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes’. Local scientist and Marine Biologist Jim Outhwaite is not happy. The filming is disrupting his research into the Loch Ness and the Monster that may inhabit her.
2013, Dr. Gemma MacDonald who is a film studies lecturer has been offered the job of a lifetime in Scotland. A rare reel of the Sherlock Holmes film has been found in an attic. Given that Gemma is most knowledgeable on the film, she has been asked to oversee the release of the missing section and also see if she can find someone to interview who was present at the making of the movie.
I’ll start by saying that I found this book a little hit and miss and hard to follow at times. Parts I was really intrigued about and glued to the pages, others I found myself skipping past. This is in no way a reflection of the brilliant writing and plot though, more my interest.
You see I’ve never heard of Billy Wilder – Surprising seen as he directed some of the last centuries biggest movies, I also had never heard of the film from the book either. Plus I’ve never been to Inverness, nor have an interest in the Loch Ness Monster. Not a great combination when the book is mainly a fictional account of the event surrounding the making of the movie. I ended up Googling about the movie and the strange goings-on that occurred and the reception it received.
The plot has been well thought-out and the shift between the two time periods was done smoothly and so that you knew exactly which era you were in. I love that the two periods were essentially weaving between one another. The characters were a delight to read about and I enjoyed getting to know them, even if I did find Gemma’s parents a little condescending and annoying at times.
There are quite a few memorable moments in the storyline and a good few funny sections too. There are also lots of cultural references about the 1960’s that if you were around in that decade you will enjoy being taken back in time.
The book is certainly different and definitely worth a read.
October 14, 2018
A lovely, light-hearted read blending fact and fiction - the story of a lost Sherlock Holmes film, the Loch Ness Monster, and various passions. Although it may sound far-fetched, it's actually very down-to-earth, with characters who seem real (good character development and dialogue) and a plot which, despite its twists and turns, is always plausible. I liked the contemporary cultural reference - for example, the characters going to the cinema to see Under the Skin, or the discussions about the Scottish referendum - which made the world of the novel feel even more real. The frequent jumps between characters and decades could have been confusing, but somehow it never was.
Even though the genre (humour/romance) is not one that I usually go for, I enjoyed The Continuity Girl and its love story which is moving without being sentimental. The fact that the love story is contrasted with stories of less conventional obsessions probably helps, and makes The Continuity Girl one of the more original novels I've read this year.
Even though the genre (humour/romance) is not one that I usually go for, I enjoyed The Continuity Girl and its love story which is moving without being sentimental. The fact that the love story is contrasted with stories of less conventional obsessions probably helps, and makes The Continuity Girl one of the more original novels I've read this year.
August 31, 2018
I knew I was going to adore this book the minute I saw the cover and read the blurb because everything about it just appeals to that side of me that loves a quirky, off-beat story and unusual characters. So I was preparing myself for disappointment, as I had such high hopes, but I need not have bothered; this book fulfilled all that it promised and more.
The plot essentially covers two stories, set 45 years apart, that ultimately converge in one of those unlikely acts of serendipity which we all wish would happen to us in real life when we see them as plot devices in novels. The central characters are two strong, individual women struggling to make the right decisions for their future, and one traditional, uptight and confused young man torn between what he knows and is used to and what is being offered to him by a more liberal and open society and a chance meeting with a beautiful and liberated young American.
There is so much to draw the reader in in this book. Let’s start with the plot. In London in 2014, a lecturer in Film Studies is excited to be involved in the discovery and restoration of the lost scenes from Billy Wilder’s The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, her favourite movie, at the same time as wrestling with a decision about her future which forces her to choose between what she feels she ought to do to please other people and what she really wants for herself. At the same time, we are taken back to the filming of the same movie at Loch Ness in 1969, when Jim Outhwaite, a marine biologist involved with studying the phenomena in Loch Ness, becomes entangled with the film crew in a way he neither wanted nor expected and which forces him to make tough choices about his own future in a world that is on the cusp of change, that change comforting him in the very realm form of the film’s Californian continuity girl, April Bloom.
I had not heard of this film before I picked up the book but I did do a little background research before I started it, as the book is based firmly on real events and people, obviously with a little poetic licence thrown in. It is one of those tales where fact is stranger than fiction and I was completely captivated by the story of the making of the film and the events in Scotland and how the author has cleverly woven them in to a charming, eccentric and humorous story which really bring the events to life and take us to the heart of them. There are some really funny moments (when they take the model monster out on to the loch for the first time being my favourite) and some poignant ones, it is a really lovely balance for the reader and it made me really keen to find out which events and characters were real and which were not, as the author joins them so seamlessly, it is impossible to tell from the narrative.
Next are the characters, and they are genuinely fabulous. Really well drawn and totally alive within the pages, I was with them from the beginning. Jim, the uptight male scientist back in 1969, was my particular favourite. He starts out so po-faced and stodgy that you wonder why April is attracted to him in the first place but a different side of him emerges as he blossoms under April’s friendship but you can still see the very real tussle going on internally between what he wants and his fear of the unknown. In fact, all the character’s internal conflicts are so believable that they really worm their way under your skin until your heart is breaking along with their or you feel their elation. This is all I ever ask from a book but it is very hard to achieve and the author has done a masterful job here.
The setting itself is one of the highlights of the book. I am very familiar with the Scottish Highlands and Loch Ness and the author really captured the essence of it here, so it was a lovely way to revisit a beloved location. The disjointed feeling caused by the placing of a glamorous film crew in this remote location cleverly mirrors the disruption that the exotic and free-thinking April causes in Jim’s ordered existence and the ripples of this are then felt all the way through to the modern day with Gemma’s ambiguous attitude towards the remastering of her beloved movie alone with everything happening in her private life. The theme of impermanence runs strongly through the book, the need to embrace change to grow as individuals and the constant contradictions within all of us which cause us so much angst are considered and really give the book and depth and relevance that endeared it to me even more, and this is mirrored in the landscape itself and its inhabitants and how all are forced to change and adapt over the years to survive. There is also a lot of emphasis on lack of communication and the pain and misunderstanding that arises when people don’t talk to each other honestly and instead allow incorrect assumptions to decide their fate. This is a theme to which we can all relate I am sure.
This book is a gentle story, beautifully written with warm but complex characters, rich themes, enticing plot, gorgeously-drawn landscapes and oodles of delights to draw you in. Any book containing a pet pine marten named Autolycus has to be worth a read, surely. I loved it and it will definitely find a permanent place in my library to be revisited in future. I’m not lending you my copy though, because it’s signed so you’ll have to get your own.
The plot essentially covers two stories, set 45 years apart, that ultimately converge in one of those unlikely acts of serendipity which we all wish would happen to us in real life when we see them as plot devices in novels. The central characters are two strong, individual women struggling to make the right decisions for their future, and one traditional, uptight and confused young man torn between what he knows and is used to and what is being offered to him by a more liberal and open society and a chance meeting with a beautiful and liberated young American.
There is so much to draw the reader in in this book. Let’s start with the plot. In London in 2014, a lecturer in Film Studies is excited to be involved in the discovery and restoration of the lost scenes from Billy Wilder’s The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, her favourite movie, at the same time as wrestling with a decision about her future which forces her to choose between what she feels she ought to do to please other people and what she really wants for herself. At the same time, we are taken back to the filming of the same movie at Loch Ness in 1969, when Jim Outhwaite, a marine biologist involved with studying the phenomena in Loch Ness, becomes entangled with the film crew in a way he neither wanted nor expected and which forces him to make tough choices about his own future in a world that is on the cusp of change, that change comforting him in the very realm form of the film’s Californian continuity girl, April Bloom.
I had not heard of this film before I picked up the book but I did do a little background research before I started it, as the book is based firmly on real events and people, obviously with a little poetic licence thrown in. It is one of those tales where fact is stranger than fiction and I was completely captivated by the story of the making of the film and the events in Scotland and how the author has cleverly woven them in to a charming, eccentric and humorous story which really bring the events to life and take us to the heart of them. There are some really funny moments (when they take the model monster out on to the loch for the first time being my favourite) and some poignant ones, it is a really lovely balance for the reader and it made me really keen to find out which events and characters were real and which were not, as the author joins them so seamlessly, it is impossible to tell from the narrative.
Next are the characters, and they are genuinely fabulous. Really well drawn and totally alive within the pages, I was with them from the beginning. Jim, the uptight male scientist back in 1969, was my particular favourite. He starts out so po-faced and stodgy that you wonder why April is attracted to him in the first place but a different side of him emerges as he blossoms under April’s friendship but you can still see the very real tussle going on internally between what he wants and his fear of the unknown. In fact, all the character’s internal conflicts are so believable that they really worm their way under your skin until your heart is breaking along with their or you feel their elation. This is all I ever ask from a book but it is very hard to achieve and the author has done a masterful job here.
The setting itself is one of the highlights of the book. I am very familiar with the Scottish Highlands and Loch Ness and the author really captured the essence of it here, so it was a lovely way to revisit a beloved location. The disjointed feeling caused by the placing of a glamorous film crew in this remote location cleverly mirrors the disruption that the exotic and free-thinking April causes in Jim’s ordered existence and the ripples of this are then felt all the way through to the modern day with Gemma’s ambiguous attitude towards the remastering of her beloved movie alone with everything happening in her private life. The theme of impermanence runs strongly through the book, the need to embrace change to grow as individuals and the constant contradictions within all of us which cause us so much angst are considered and really give the book and depth and relevance that endeared it to me even more, and this is mirrored in the landscape itself and its inhabitants and how all are forced to change and adapt over the years to survive. There is also a lot of emphasis on lack of communication and the pain and misunderstanding that arises when people don’t talk to each other honestly and instead allow incorrect assumptions to decide their fate. This is a theme to which we can all relate I am sure.
This book is a gentle story, beautifully written with warm but complex characters, rich themes, enticing plot, gorgeously-drawn landscapes and oodles of delights to draw you in. Any book containing a pet pine marten named Autolycus has to be worth a read, surely. I loved it and it will definitely find a permanent place in my library to be revisited in future. I’m not lending you my copy though, because it’s signed so you’ll have to get your own.
May 11, 2018
'The Continuity Girl' is a modern novel about romantic and vintage obsessions. It is set in two different periods of history, and told from the viewpoints of Jim in 1969, a scientist and Gemma, a film lecturer in 2013 who has to present to the world a lost film by Billy Wilder: The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. When Wilder's film crew arrived in 1969 and caused disruption in the sleepy area of Loch Ness where Jim is trying to film the Loch in his scientific research for evidence of the Monster. The titular Continuity Girl is none other April, whom he starts to have a crush on the moment he laid eyes on her. She is everything that he is not, American, bubbly and charismatic whereas he is apparently so serious and nerdy especially as he is on a mission to shoot his own footage of Loch Ness. Whereas in the present day, Gemma is becoming distant and aloof from ther boyfriend because she is so drawn to her own obsession with the lost film, now found.
As the two viewpoints unfold, the two arcs of the storyline intersect and raise the stakes to a climactic conclusion. As to whether Jim finds love or evidence of the Loch Ness Monster, you will have to read to find out.This is an enjoyable and thoughtful debut with lovable characters. It is very funny and it is a light read which you will breeze through. Patrick Kincaid writes love scenes well, and is skilled at turns of phrases and weaving an absorbing narrative full of compassion and delight.
As the two viewpoints unfold, the two arcs of the storyline intersect and raise the stakes to a climactic conclusion. As to whether Jim finds love or evidence of the Loch Ness Monster, you will have to read to find out.This is an enjoyable and thoughtful debut with lovable characters. It is very funny and it is a light read which you will breeze through. Patrick Kincaid writes love scenes well, and is skilled at turns of phrases and weaving an absorbing narrative full of compassion and delight.
May 23, 2018
The Continuity Girl is not a book I would typically pick up from Waterstones or on Amazon, but I'm very pleased to have read it. I found it to be wonderfully character-driven, switching seamlessly between 1969 and 2014 before drawing the dual narratives together for a touching conclusion. It is also very well written and Kincaid gets five stars from me instead of four because of the skill he shows in uniting the two rather disparate motifs of the Loch Ness Monster and Sherlock Holmes. I look forward to more of his work.
December 14, 2017
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, which wove fact and fiction mainly in a Loch Ness setting split between 1969 and 2014. I was a teenager in 1969 and loved the cultural references. I love Sherlock Holmes, old films and anything to do with Scotland, so it was a treat of a read, stave by stave with The Pigeonhole.
August 30, 2018
If you were to say that you were writing a book combining Sherlock Holmes, iconic filmmaker Billy Wilder and the Loch Ness Monster, set in London and Scotland, in two different time periods, I would probably wonder if the world had gone slightly mad – yet that’s exactly what novelist Patrick Kincaid has done in The Continuity Girl. And strangely, it works.
Mired in fact, Kincaid’s story moves between 1969, when Wilder shot The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, his least commercially successful film, and 2014, when a lost print of the full movie is discovered. The link is the ‘continuity girl’, April Bloom, who worked on Wilder’s film.
In reality, Wilder’s final version was viewed as far too long by studio bosses and he was forced to cut it by a third, reportedly breaking his heart. It went on to bomb at the box office, unlike previous commercial and critical successes, such as personal favourites Some Like It Hot (1959) and The Apartment (1960). Today, though, even in its edited form, the film has achieved cult status, fans ranging from author Jonathan Coe and film critic Kim Newman to Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffatt, who both credit it as informing their vision of Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch; BBC, 2010–17). Kincaid is himself a diehard fan of the movie, Sherlock Holmes and Wilder and this affection comes across in the novel. …
In The Continuity Girl, film lecturer Gemma provides the commentary on the film in 2014, while side by side, in 1969, we experience the shoot in a small Scottish village through the eyes of Jim, a scientist seeking evidence of The Lock Ness Monster. (A recurring reference in the book is there’s a ‘monster who isn’t really a monster’.) …
With the various plot strands and dual timeframe, The Continuity Girl could have been an overly ambitious project, rather like Wilder’s film is sometimes (wrongfully) perceived to be, thus it’s all credit to Kincaid’s writing that it’s not. As a great Wilder fan, I wanted to like this book when I first heard its premise: thank God, it doesn’t disappoint.
For the full review see: http://www.theliteraryshed.co.uk/read...
See also: Meet Patrick Kincaid: The Literary Lounge Q&A http://www.theliteraryshed.co.uk/read...
This review was published as part of the virtual book tour. Thanks to the publisher for a review copy. All opinions are our own. All rights reserved.
Mired in fact, Kincaid’s story moves between 1969, when Wilder shot The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, his least commercially successful film, and 2014, when a lost print of the full movie is discovered. The link is the ‘continuity girl’, April Bloom, who worked on Wilder’s film.
In reality, Wilder’s final version was viewed as far too long by studio bosses and he was forced to cut it by a third, reportedly breaking his heart. It went on to bomb at the box office, unlike previous commercial and critical successes, such as personal favourites Some Like It Hot (1959) and The Apartment (1960). Today, though, even in its edited form, the film has achieved cult status, fans ranging from author Jonathan Coe and film critic Kim Newman to Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffatt, who both credit it as informing their vision of Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch; BBC, 2010–17). Kincaid is himself a diehard fan of the movie, Sherlock Holmes and Wilder and this affection comes across in the novel. …
In The Continuity Girl, film lecturer Gemma provides the commentary on the film in 2014, while side by side, in 1969, we experience the shoot in a small Scottish village through the eyes of Jim, a scientist seeking evidence of The Lock Ness Monster. (A recurring reference in the book is there’s a ‘monster who isn’t really a monster’.) …
With the various plot strands and dual timeframe, The Continuity Girl could have been an overly ambitious project, rather like Wilder’s film is sometimes (wrongfully) perceived to be, thus it’s all credit to Kincaid’s writing that it’s not. As a great Wilder fan, I wanted to like this book when I first heard its premise: thank God, it doesn’t disappoint.
For the full review see: http://www.theliteraryshed.co.uk/read...
See also: Meet Patrick Kincaid: The Literary Lounge Q&A http://www.theliteraryshed.co.uk/read...
This review was published as part of the virtual book tour. Thanks to the publisher for a review copy. All opinions are our own. All rights reserved.
December 29, 2017
'The Continuity Girl' is a lighthearted novel about love and obsession, which I read thanks to The Pigeonhole.It follows two characters in different times who each have particular passion. In 1969, Biologist Jim, is part of a team trying to establish whether there is any scientific basis for the existence of the Loch Ness Monster. In 2013 Dr Gemma McDonald, a lecturer in film studies, is given the gift of a life time when the long missing reels to her favourite film by Billy Wilder, 'The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes' are discovered and she is asked to present them to the world. The two are linked by the fact that Jim's safe and ordered existence is about to be disrupted by the arrival of Wilder's crew creating the movie that Gemma loves so much. When Jim is mistaken for a paparazzi as he films the Loch looking for clues, he is thrown into a world far removed from his own. The rather straight-laced and fussy scientist is at first appalled and then fascinated by the hedonism and chaos of the film crew, as he finds himself inexorably drawn to April, the enigmatic continuity girl. Meanwhile, in the modern day Gemma's obsession with the film and her unwise decision to hide a job offer from her boyfriend, puts her relationship under strain. Kincaid weaves these two stories together with a great deal of humour, a wonderfully nerdy reverence for the Wilder film, and some skill, pulling them together to draw matters to a satisfying conclusion. A charming debut, that reminded me more than somewhat of The Detectorists,this one is worth looking out for when Unbound publish it in January.
December 14, 2017
An enjoyable light-hearted read. Patrick Kincaid's descriptive writing is wonderful, and he has given me a yen to visit Loch Ness. His characterisation is equally as good, with the people in the story becoming very real as the story progressed. It's a love story, a story about passion and life, set in two different times, and showing that, when it comes to matters of the heart, nothing changes.
December 13, 2017
not my usual sort of book but I enjoyed the pace and character development. the ending was a little disappointing but all books need to end at some point.
I would recommend this to all who like well written and descriptive scenes.
I would recommend this to all who like well written and descriptive scenes.
August 21, 2018
The Continuity Girl had an immediate appeal for me. It's set in two different times and mostly in Scotland. For the most part, we're there in 1969 following Jim, a young man looking for evidence of the Loch Ness Monster. Jim is a scientist and part of the LNRG (Loch Ness Research Group). The presence of a film crew causes Jim a bit of consternation until he becomes friends with April, the continuity girl of the title.
Fast forward to 2014 and we have Gemma, a doctor in Film Studies whose favourite film happens to be The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, the very one they were filming on the banks of Loch Ness in 1969. When a director's cut of the film turns up, Gemma is thrilled by it. She takes herself off to Loch Ness and a series of events brings April into her life.
There was much that I liked about The Continuity Girl. I enjoyed the details of the film and the actors. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is a real film and so I imagine that the details were factually correct. Certainly, I recognised some of the actors' names. I particularly liked Jim and the relationships between him and his fellow LNRG members. The dynamic was fascinating as they lived together in the same house and had different priorities with regard to their work. Jim has a lot of integrity and it was nice to see him being able to loosen up around April and her colleagues.
I also liked Gemma a lot. The two stories are essentially ones that are completely separate with one crossover section and Gemma's story is more about bringing the past and present together. I did wonder if some of the sections about her family were a bit superfluous but I guess she needed to be padded out in some way otherwise her role would have been simply been to facilitate events in 2014 and that would have been a shame. Her sections are most definitely secondary to the main story though.
This book has a quote on the front calling it a romantic comedy. I'm not sure I would describe it in that way, but it does have elements of both romance and humour - I think I would have like a little more romance personally. But more so it's a snapshot in time looking at a period before the commercialism of the Loch Ness Monster set in, and at the filming of a Billy Wilder film.
Overall, I thought this was an engaging and entertaining read. It's a little bit quirky and I liked the fact that the focus was a bit different. The use of a real film made it really interesting and it's very well-written.
Fast forward to 2014 and we have Gemma, a doctor in Film Studies whose favourite film happens to be The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, the very one they were filming on the banks of Loch Ness in 1969. When a director's cut of the film turns up, Gemma is thrilled by it. She takes herself off to Loch Ness and a series of events brings April into her life.
There was much that I liked about The Continuity Girl. I enjoyed the details of the film and the actors. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is a real film and so I imagine that the details were factually correct. Certainly, I recognised some of the actors' names. I particularly liked Jim and the relationships between him and his fellow LNRG members. The dynamic was fascinating as they lived together in the same house and had different priorities with regard to their work. Jim has a lot of integrity and it was nice to see him being able to loosen up around April and her colleagues.
I also liked Gemma a lot. The two stories are essentially ones that are completely separate with one crossover section and Gemma's story is more about bringing the past and present together. I did wonder if some of the sections about her family were a bit superfluous but I guess she needed to be padded out in some way otherwise her role would have been simply been to facilitate events in 2014 and that would have been a shame. Her sections are most definitely secondary to the main story though.
This book has a quote on the front calling it a romantic comedy. I'm not sure I would describe it in that way, but it does have elements of both romance and humour - I think I would have like a little more romance personally. But more so it's a snapshot in time looking at a period before the commercialism of the Loch Ness Monster set in, and at the filming of a Billy Wilder film.
Overall, I thought this was an engaging and entertaining read. It's a little bit quirky and I liked the fact that the focus was a bit different. The use of a real film made it really interesting and it's very well-written.
April 7, 2018
The Continuity Girl is a delight. The core of the novel is a gently comic romance set on the shores of Loch Ness in 1969. A young scientist investigating the Loch Ness Monster meets a member of the film crew making the classic Billy Wilder movie, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. A parallel tale unfolds in 2014 and the two stories are brought together by the titular Continuity Girl, April Bloom.
The book is pure pleasure - a real page turner - and from beginning to end I found myself with a smile on my face. Patrick Kincaid beautifully captures time and place and brings a wonderful sense of authenticity to Loch Ness at the end of the 1960s. A real feeling of being there is a key part of the book's success, not least in the sparkling chapter where our young scientist goes to a party to celebrate the 1969 moon landing. The characters are deftly drawn and likeable and the dialogue is warm and entertaining throughout. The magical landscape around Loch Ness is almost as important as the characters, providing a lovely, evocative backdrop to events.
At its heart this is a witty and charming love story; and there is also rather more to it than that. It is a novel about the choices we make, sometimes almost by accident, and the choices made for us. It is about love and friendship and all manner of relationships. It is about points in time and time passing. It's wistful and it's full of hope and happiness. It is one of those treasured books that ends too soon. Highly recommended.
The book is pure pleasure - a real page turner - and from beginning to end I found myself with a smile on my face. Patrick Kincaid beautifully captures time and place and brings a wonderful sense of authenticity to Loch Ness at the end of the 1960s. A real feeling of being there is a key part of the book's success, not least in the sparkling chapter where our young scientist goes to a party to celebrate the 1969 moon landing. The characters are deftly drawn and likeable and the dialogue is warm and entertaining throughout. The magical landscape around Loch Ness is almost as important as the characters, providing a lovely, evocative backdrop to events.
At its heart this is a witty and charming love story; and there is also rather more to it than that. It is a novel about the choices we make, sometimes almost by accident, and the choices made for us. It is about love and friendship and all manner of relationships. It is about points in time and time passing. It's wistful and it's full of hope and happiness. It is one of those treasured books that ends too soon. Highly recommended.
March 26, 2018
Declaring an interest at the outset (as I know the author), this was a hugely enjoyable read. If you love Billy Wilder films, the mystery of the Loch Ness monster plus a late 1960’s vibe (all of which I do), this is the book for you. Set around the filming in Scotland in 1969 of Billy Wilder's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, the novel moves between past and present, until the two sections are finally linked. Well researched period details and a very plausible storyline.
September 3, 2018
When this little beauty arrived through my letterbox my 9 year old picked it up and said "Mummy it looks like an old strip of film but made to look like the Loch Ness Monster". That was the cover certainly nailed and being a previous media studies student that sort of thing appeals to me.
The book was primarily set in the Highlands and being a frequent holiday-er to those parts I also appreciated the location. Set around the discovery of an uncut version of a real film (The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes) it flits between the 1969 film shoot and present day London. The concept reminded me of Beautiful Ruins (one of my favourite reads of the year) and I of course had to immediately Google the film and now have developed an urge to read Conan Doyle's back catalogue.
I really liked Jim the marine biologist looking for proof the Loch Ness Monster did(n't?) exist. The book is billed as a romantic comedy and it was different reading this type of book from a male's perspective, never getting to know what was in the head of April Bloom (The Continuity Girl). Jim was immediately likeable and the books strongest asset providing much of the humour.
In the present day part we switched to Gemma a film studies professor involved in the screening of the uncut version of the film. I found both Gemma and April to be strong independent characters, successful in their careers and good at what they did. I loved April's reaction to Jim's confession about the extent of his feelings. How many times have I read about a girl wearing her heart on her sleeve only to be rejected? This role reversal was also continued in the make over section before the Moon Landing Party, a brilliant stereotype to break and funny to read. Whilst there were strong females, the males in the book were treated equally fairly. It would have been so easy to turn David (Gemma's boyfriend) in to a baddie yet Kincaid steered away from this and David remained with pride intact.
As well as reading about the background to the Loch Ness Monster it was interesting reading about the Moon Landing (what a fascinating time that must have been) at the same time as the Referendum. I found this gave the two parts a strong sense of setting and realism as let's face it, who wouldn't have been talking about the Moon in 1969?
I really liked the ending with Kincaid veering away from sickly sweet. I found he stayed away from cliches of this genre in general resulting in the book not being predictable and being all the more better for it. It was funny, it had warmth and even had a pine martin, what's not to like!
The book was primarily set in the Highlands and being a frequent holiday-er to those parts I also appreciated the location. Set around the discovery of an uncut version of a real film (The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes) it flits between the 1969 film shoot and present day London. The concept reminded me of Beautiful Ruins (one of my favourite reads of the year) and I of course had to immediately Google the film and now have developed an urge to read Conan Doyle's back catalogue.
I really liked Jim the marine biologist looking for proof the Loch Ness Monster did(n't?) exist. The book is billed as a romantic comedy and it was different reading this type of book from a male's perspective, never getting to know what was in the head of April Bloom (The Continuity Girl). Jim was immediately likeable and the books strongest asset providing much of the humour.
In the present day part we switched to Gemma a film studies professor involved in the screening of the uncut version of the film. I found both Gemma and April to be strong independent characters, successful in their careers and good at what they did. I loved April's reaction to Jim's confession about the extent of his feelings. How many times have I read about a girl wearing her heart on her sleeve only to be rejected? This role reversal was also continued in the make over section before the Moon Landing Party, a brilliant stereotype to break and funny to read. Whilst there were strong females, the males in the book were treated equally fairly. It would have been so easy to turn David (Gemma's boyfriend) in to a baddie yet Kincaid steered away from this and David remained with pride intact.
As well as reading about the background to the Loch Ness Monster it was interesting reading about the Moon Landing (what a fascinating time that must have been) at the same time as the Referendum. I found this gave the two parts a strong sense of setting and realism as let's face it, who wouldn't have been talking about the Moon in 1969?
I really liked the ending with Kincaid veering away from sickly sweet. I found he stayed away from cliches of this genre in general resulting in the book not being predictable and being all the more better for it. It was funny, it had warmth and even had a pine martin, what's not to like!
November 23, 2020
It’s interesting that a book that largely uses the backdrop of the making of Wilder’s wonderful Private Life of Sherlock Holmes as the setting for its romantic drama is so firmly evocative of two different eras - it’s time jumping format meaning that it’s very firmly evocative of both the late sixties in Scotland, taking in the Moon landings, hippie culture, and free love and very specifically the run up to the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum which in some ways feels farther in the past than Wilder’s film.
It often feels more comfortable in the latter era, taking in the referendum but also Pokémon, Pointless, Mark Kermode and Kirsty Wark. It weaves together the two plots very well, subtly letting you in on what’s going to happen across the two stories, and stitching parallels between the two stories expertly. The only complaint is that the 2014 turns into a plot device to drive the characters from the previous era back together, a shame when it’s often the bits where the book comes to life.
It often feels more comfortable in the latter era, taking in the referendum but also Pokémon, Pointless, Mark Kermode and Kirsty Wark. It weaves together the two plots very well, subtly letting you in on what’s going to happen across the two stories, and stitching parallels between the two stories expertly. The only complaint is that the 2014 turns into a plot device to drive the characters from the previous era back together, a shame when it’s often the bits where the book comes to life.
December 13, 2017
I was lucky enough to read The Continuity Girl by Patrick Kincaid through The Pidgeonhole App. I really enjoyed the story, which was set over two time periods. The characters were likeable and it was interesting watching their relationships develop. The story is set in the magnificent Highlands on the shores of he beautiful Loch Ness. I was lucky enough to spend my homeymoon here so it was lovely to read about all the places I had visited. This book transported me back there. It was a really enjoyable book that I would highly recommend.
August 28, 2018
Inspired by the book, to coin a phrase from the film industry there is a sweet but unusual cute-meet of Jim and The Continuity Girl, and turning the traditional romantic scenes on their heads is what make The Continuity Girl such a lovely whimsical read. In one sweet moment, the make-over scene is twisted round to delightful effect.
The Characters surrounding the two main protagonists are wonderfully visualised and well rounded rather than just foils or mirrors to the main characters, (I'm a big fan of the Scottish science team). Blending the space race, Loch Ness monster hunters and the filming of The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, in less skilful hands, could have been cluttered but it works beautifully.
Exploring themes like obsession, Occam's Razor, the tricky bind of proving the non-existence of something, to name just a few. Kincaid's light touch makes easy work of these heavy themes. A charming love story but like the Loch Ness, bubbling from underneath The Continuity Girl is far more.
The Characters surrounding the two main protagonists are wonderfully visualised and well rounded rather than just foils or mirrors to the main characters, (I'm a big fan of the Scottish science team). Blending the space race, Loch Ness monster hunters and the filming of The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, in less skilful hands, could have been cluttered but it works beautifully.
Exploring themes like obsession, Occam's Razor, the tricky bind of proving the non-existence of something, to name just a few. Kincaid's light touch makes easy work of these heavy themes. A charming love story but like the Loch Ness, bubbling from underneath The Continuity Girl is far more.
November 2, 2020
A humorous good read
My love of the film Avanti, mentioned here, and the onset of Coevember, marking the publication of one of my favorite authors, Jonathan Coe’s new book, also about a late Wilder film, brought me here, as a result of judicious marketing by the author. A days holiday allowed me to read in one go and what a wonderful and charming time I had. The writing takes me back to childhood holidays in Scotland, with the description of the scenery. The characters are just like in one of Mr Wilder’s films, as is the ending. I now have another film I have to see.
My love of the film Avanti, mentioned here, and the onset of Coevember, marking the publication of one of my favorite authors, Jonathan Coe’s new book, also about a late Wilder film, brought me here, as a result of judicious marketing by the author. A days holiday allowed me to read in one go and what a wonderful and charming time I had. The writing takes me back to childhood holidays in Scotland, with the description of the scenery. The characters are just like in one of Mr Wilder’s films, as is the ending. I now have another film I have to see.
December 29, 2018
Loved this book. - Characters that pulled you in - details that helped you become a detective even though no mystery or murder has occurred. Gentle humour and romance that delight. I thoroughly recommend this to all.
March 23, 2018
Gosh! Where to start. If a book had been designed by committee to push all of my own particular buttons, it would have been this whimsical, funny and yes, romantic, debut novel by first time author, Patrick Kincaid. Part campus-novel - at least in as much as it has an affectionate dig at academics and their occasionally narrow view of life - part boy-meets-girl, boy-likes-girl, forgets-to-tell-girl-how-much novel, Patrick’s debut is so much more than that. Various other themes emerge from between the lines like the disturbances on the loch: a meditation on what being Scottish is ( you’ve seen my name and if you heard my incongruous accent you’d understand why this is such a good thing for me), for example. Furthermore, Patrick deals with the nature of reality and perception: by the time I got to the end of the book I was put in mind of a film quote that Patrick doubtless knows
“When the legend becomes fact, print the legend”.
As note perfect a rendition of the tag-end of the 60s as you will ever find, The Continuity Girl put me in mind of Nick Hornby’s Funny Girl so accurate its portrayal of a particular time. The Continuity Girl hops seamlessly between 1969 and 2014, the year of the Scottish Referendum with nary a stumble. As a bit of a film buff myself, I loved the asides and references sneaked in throughout the text. However, the story is so winning, and so deftly handled, the reader could care as little for such things as Jim Outhwaite himself - and still be royally entertained. Beautifully plotted and neatly tied up at the end, you’ll want to find out if this Academic Jim turns out to be a Lucky one in the end.
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“When the legend becomes fact, print the legend”.
As note perfect a rendition of the tag-end of the 60s as you will ever find, The Continuity Girl put me in mind of Nick Hornby’s Funny Girl so accurate its portrayal of a particular time. The Continuity Girl hops seamlessly between 1969 and 2014, the year of the Scottish Referendum with nary a stumble. As a bit of a film buff myself, I loved the asides and references sneaked in throughout the text. However, the story is so winning, and so deftly handled, the reader could care as little for such things as Jim Outhwaite himself - and still be royally entertained. Beautifully plotted and neatly tied up at the end, you’ll want to find out if this Academic Jim turns out to be a Lucky one in the end.
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January 24, 2020I saw the author of this post the cover on Twitter, pleased and embarrassed to his work on a table in a bookstore with other authors he liked and respected. I didn't know him, so I don't know how I saw it, but the blurb, the pull-quote, and the look of the thing got me to say, "Hmn, I wonder what that's about?" When I discovered it wasn't in the inter-library loan system, I bunged it up on my holiday gift list. When it arrived under the tree, I was pleased to see that it was published by Unbound, a label, process, and publisher I respect. It was lovely, then, to also enjoy the book. I think I've unsubscribed from Unbound's updates, as I'd gone through a stretch both of not seeing a new book I'd wanted to back and not reading the books that had my name somewhere in them. However, I think the success and charm of this one may get me to get back on the horse. Thank you, Mr. Kincaid.
March 29, 2018
Couldn’t help but smile while reading this book. It’s whimsical and cheerful but still moves you along at just the right pace. Kincaid has clearly done his research on Billy Wilder’s “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes” and even though I’m clueless about most of Wilder’s work, I never felt lost because the affable characters in this book are so realistic that they keep you grounded. I think Kincaid must have really enjoyed writing this, and he wants the reader to do so as well. There’s so much affection for his subject, its main players, and Loch Need itself. Looking forward to what he’ll do next!
September 10, 2018
A delightfully offbeat, bittersweet romcom feat. monsters and moon landings and movies (well, one movie really). Missed connections and cultural differences wreak havoc on the transatlantic love lives of these sets of endearing characters. When the two timelines collide, it's in the most satisfying way. A totally charming book.
June 24, 2020
Very pleasant read, a gentle and well-balanced story. Smart, but not smug; fun, but not too 'quirky'. Recommended if you like your romance and nostalgia in wee doses, without mush or melodrama. Also, a useful starter for facts about Scottish flora and fauna - what's not to like?
July 25, 2019
At last, a romantic comedy novel tailor made for film enthusiasts like me! “The Continuity Girl” offers up a marvellous babushka doll of stories within stories with a legendary monster and a classic cult film at its centre. It entertains, enthralls and philosophises with poignancy on the ‘what ifs’ and ‘could have beens’ of life. The whimsical premise of the tale belies a deep felt, grown up, realist’s view of the world. Very satisfying indeed. And the fact that Patrick Kincaid himself obviously has a genuine love of film history, the Scottish culture and environment and a Sherlock Holmes eye for detail, add a rare richness to this very entertaining novel.
The book counterpoints between 2014 and 1969. In the present day, young Gemma McDonald, a British film and media academic, has made the exciting discovery that there exists a director’s cut of Billy Wilder’s 1969 film “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes”. With her American academic boyfriend in tow, she is set to go to deliver a game changing lecture in Scotland, where the film’s ‘Loch Ness Monster’ scenes were filmed.
Flashback to Loch Ness 1969 where we meet Jim Outhwaite, a young marine biologists and the Loch Ness Research group, as hungry and committed to their quest as pirates after gold. Their relatively peaceful routine is disturbed by the arrival of a Hollywood/ British film crew setting up to film Billy Wilder’s Sherlock Holmes movie. The geeky, uptight Jim is disarmed by the mermaid charms of April Bloom, the film’s continuity girl. She will be the unifying link between the present and the past ( a clever ‘continuity’metaphor) as she continues her career into the present and encounters our modern heroine Gemma.
That’s it. You’ll have to read it to find out what happens. What I especially loved about the book was Kincaid’s portrayal of all the women ( not just Gemma and April) as independent people, standing in their own power not just defined by the men around them.
Don’t be fooled by the lightness of touch. This is an intricate, well-crafted piece. In a broader sense it examines our need to mythologise, be that in a quest for a Jurassic magical creature, or steeping ourselves in the Neptunian world of film, the ultimate realm of dreams, or our own personal mythology in the stories we create from choices made and the identities we attach to ourselves.
Patrick Kincaid has made a dazzling new niche for himself in the overcrowded shelf of new novelists. Long may he ‘continue’!
The book counterpoints between 2014 and 1969. In the present day, young Gemma McDonald, a British film and media academic, has made the exciting discovery that there exists a director’s cut of Billy Wilder’s 1969 film “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes”. With her American academic boyfriend in tow, she is set to go to deliver a game changing lecture in Scotland, where the film’s ‘Loch Ness Monster’ scenes were filmed.
Flashback to Loch Ness 1969 where we meet Jim Outhwaite, a young marine biologists and the Loch Ness Research group, as hungry and committed to their quest as pirates after gold. Their relatively peaceful routine is disturbed by the arrival of a Hollywood/ British film crew setting up to film Billy Wilder’s Sherlock Holmes movie. The geeky, uptight Jim is disarmed by the mermaid charms of April Bloom, the film’s continuity girl. She will be the unifying link between the present and the past ( a clever ‘continuity’metaphor) as she continues her career into the present and encounters our modern heroine Gemma.
That’s it. You’ll have to read it to find out what happens. What I especially loved about the book was Kincaid’s portrayal of all the women ( not just Gemma and April) as independent people, standing in their own power not just defined by the men around them.
Don’t be fooled by the lightness of touch. This is an intricate, well-crafted piece. In a broader sense it examines our need to mythologise, be that in a quest for a Jurassic magical creature, or steeping ourselves in the Neptunian world of film, the ultimate realm of dreams, or our own personal mythology in the stories we create from choices made and the identities we attach to ourselves.
Patrick Kincaid has made a dazzling new niche for himself in the overcrowded shelf of new novelists. Long may he ‘continue’!
April 10, 2018
An entertaining, witty and whimsical novel, The Continuity Girl is written with a wordsmith's panache and powers of wry observation reminiscent of Holmes himself. (I loved some of Kincaid's character description; try this witty Scottish-themed simile on a less-than-likable character: 'Alan squinted up at him with miniscule eyes, set in a face the same colour and shape as a bowl of porridge.') The intelligence and thorough research of the author give an authentic feel to the two worlds of the novel without lapsing into mere geekery. Two worlds? The Scottish summer of 69 (monster-meets-movie-meets-moonlanding) intertwined with contemporary London and indyref-gripped Scotland. I found both entirely convincing.
And beyond the cleverness and ingenuity are the humanity and compassion that make this novel really resonate. It is about the difficulty and challenge of knowing others - and oneself. It is about second chances and how we don't have to deserve them to have them granted. It is about love and redemption - the bigees.
Thoroughly recommended.
And beyond the cleverness and ingenuity are the humanity and compassion that make this novel really resonate. It is about the difficulty and challenge of knowing others - and oneself. It is about second chances and how we don't have to deserve them to have them granted. It is about love and redemption - the bigees.
Thoroughly recommended.
December 2, 2023
Well written. Wonderful sense of place. Achingly nostalgic, both in terms of recreating 2014 and 1969, but also in that the characters themselves spend so much time thinking about missed opportunities. Leaves me wanting to watch the film, rather as Jonathan Coe’s novel made me look up the movie ‘What a carve up’.
June 22, 2024
A rich evocation of time and place, in a story of how our relationships are pulled and pushed by the choices we make. The 1969- and 2014-set stories weave together in the closing chapters to make a poignant paean to film, life, love, loss and reconciliation.
July 1, 2018
Not really for me. I bought this on BookBub because I like a Scottish setting. But I don’t have enough interest in film making/the film industry to enjoy the particulars of this novel.
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