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This is a wonderfully wrought piece of writing. The dialogues are terrific, often hilarious, and they aren’t simply for show but build characters that become very real and believable. The nested stories presented in this way not only create great narrative opportunities but introduce characters who re-emerge as in a Dickens novel, to play important roles in the chronicle. Narrated by the main character, Venter Lowood, the story is interspersed with extracts from various pieces of writing and testimonials transcribed by Venter, that present many different voices and viewpoints.

Gerrard has a knack for converting complex ideas into simple sentences. The first sentence is: “The epiphany machine will not discover anything about you that you do not, in some way, already know.” We have no idea, at this point, of what the epiphany machine is – – but it’s such a clear, simple and concise way of expressing what an epiphany is, whether triggered by a psychotropic drug, a religious experience or the eponymous machine of the novel. This novel is so entertaining and so much fun that the craft underlying it can go unnoticed. Most of all it’s a book with something to say, which leaves the reader with a lot to think about. It is drenched in irony and has wonderful plot twists, characters who come alive and terrific writing. This is an extraordinary novel that will make you laugh out loud and then somberly reflect on a world that always seems to be changing for the worse. The device is a brilliant concept for a novel, but that’s just the starting point.

The epiphany machine is a device that looks like an antique sewing machine or the jawbone of an extinct animal that tattoos the arms of users with a phrase that reveals their quintessential nature, or is it their most serious failing – or are they the same thing? It’s a divine or diabolical creation, or perhaps just the prop of a clever charlatan, with conflicting origin myths.