What my proof copy didn’t tell me is that Metronome is featured in the next BBC2 ‘Between The Covers’ series. I love the idea that each book is numbered and limited, they're extra special because they're personalised with those sought-after signatures, and they are not on tip-in pages.

There she is given the chance to undo her regrets and try out each of the other lives she might have lived. Metronome by Tom Watson is out now, and is soon to be on BBC2’s excellent book show, Between The Covers. As a couple, they are being punished by a government that has taken control of certain basic human choices, but I wanted to portray the after-effects of this on a micro level, within the relationship. And of course, while they have space to roam and freedom to establish their own routines, they are bound to this pill clock that sits at the heart of their croft, dispensing these life-saving pills at eight-hour intervals. With echoes of Emily St John Mandel and Megan Hunter, this haunting literary thriller is about survival, loss and the binds that unite and break us.A resolve to be a giant among men, to conquer, plunder and seize the greatness that he thinks is his right. I was thinking, what could be worse than solitary confinement, and I had this idea about a couple who are imprisoned on a remote island with supplies running low and no sign of parole.

The story starts out really interesting, I liked reading the flashbacks to their lies before this, but the world sounds crazy! Brilliant imagery, magical symbolism, and use of objects throughout – from a favourite mug to a large sailing vessel – confirms how Tom pays incredible attention to detail of their life, within defined boundaries, but having to think outside the box. From the first scene, which was them sitting in the croft having a cup of tea, it was clear that this was Aina’s story. It is a simple and effective way of keeping them tied to the croft, hoping for parole to be granted by the Warden eventually. He is also masterly at depicting a slow breakdown of trust between two people who only have each other to rely on, and the conflicting pull of love and suspicion.

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Katherine Mansfield also combines the senses and elements in her ‘Voices Of The Air’ poem using air, sound, sea, wind and music, ‘sighs’, ‘double notes’ and double basses, that appear in ‘rare’ moments. Not to be confused with the former Labour politician and novelist of sorts, Curtis Brown Prize-winning author Tom Watson debuts with Metronome, and readers that were impressed by Francine Toon’s chilling Pine or the tense uncertainty of Emma Stonex’s The Lamplighters might enjoy this. The idea of Aina and Whitney being punished for a crime by being placed on island alone, was something different to anything I’d read before. They make them at the dinner table, or in a meeting room, where personal history, your own unique view of the world, ego, pride, marketing, and odd incentives are scrambled together. Ottessa Moshfegh deems that within good fiction, “you feel shaken, ‘woken up’, affected“ as a reader.The two central characters are compelling, if not overly so - I took a long while to connect with them, to be honest, and their frayed relationship. I would throw a few questions at her from Proust’s questionnaire; probably “what is your greatest regret”, “what is your motto” and “who are your heroes in real life”. It is mysterious, intriguing, has more than a hint of the dystopian and examines the very depth of humanity which ticks a lot of boxes. Overall, while it didn’t wow me, I found ‘Metronome’ an unsettling novel and felt Tom Watson utilised his desolate setting effectively.