I enjoyed this story of a troubled life. The central premise may have been quite apparent from fairly early on, but it kept me guessing. I enjoyed the setting of Cambridge as I grew up near the town and have been a frequent visitor over the years. I did, however, start to loose patience a little during the last section of the book, but Mr Faulks pulled it back beautifully in the last couple of pages. I think the writing deliberately meandered and repeated to reflect the thought processes of Engelby and also to shake some of the story threads from memory so they could reprise with additional weight.
Apart from all the excellent historical details of the 70s and 80s, my main takeaway from Engleby came from some reflections by other characters in the story. It was interesting to read other points of view reflecting the person we were piecing together and how different a picture they painted. The inner monologue doesn’t cover a lot of what we are as a person witnessed by the outside world.