3.5 stars

Wise Children was one of those weird books where, when I was reading it I was enjoying it, but when I wasn’t, I didn’t really feel like picking it up. There’s such a huge cast of characters that it was quite hard to keep track of who’s who and what relationships they have, and once when I checked the character list at the back, it spoiled a plot twist for me! A bit annoying.
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But as I say, I did enjoy it when I got into the flow of it! The narrator is one of many sets of twins in this book, Dora, a 75-year-old former showgirl who lives with her twin and best friend Nora, and she is hilarious. She’s recounting their colourful life and that of their huge (and rather incestuous) family, and several parts had me giggling out loud!
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I really enjoyed reading about all the scandal and drama of the crazy family, their affairs, their betrayals, their hopes and dreams. I did mention incest, so be warned that that is a thing in this book. Obviously all incest is bad, but I thought the last one was like, really bad. I didn’t really think it added anything to the story. I’m also not big on my Shakespeare so a lot of references probably went over my head!
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Overall though, I enjoyed the themes of sexuality, especially women’s, that were addressed, and I thought it was a fun, vibrant, witty read and I’ll definitely be reading more Carter in the future.