My days that was intense. I couldn't not read but also had to stop as it was just too intense to read all in one go. Brilliant though.

This was a hugely enjoyable biography. Keay knows how to spin a narrative. I'm left somewhat perplexed that while she tries to rescue dear Monmouth from the gutters of history, she rather throws his poor mother under the bus. It's disappointing to see Keay regurgitating the opinions of the men of the period without unpicking or questioning it, aside from some platitudes about the difficulties Lucy Walter must have faced. We're still holding seventeenth century women to a higher moral standard than their male counterparts it seems.

This aside, she does a rather good job of rehabilitating poor old Monmouth. I mean, he comes across as rather stupid at times, and block headedly idealistic but the gift of hindsight and 300 odd years is a wonderful thing.

I really enjoyed this. The story carried me along. I have always enjoyed a Greek retelling and this can sit among the best of them I think.

The fresh perspectives on characters we think we know well are great and as always it puts the story on its head to hear it from the female perspective. The emphasis changes.

I was frustrated though. Because in this 'retelling' our women do not spring free of the plot already wrought for them. They give us a new emphasis, and a different narrative but the story is the same. Both women recognise their position as women and both make assertions that they will not become victims to the rapacious nature of Greek men and Gods. And then do exactly that. Phaedra has an element of spark about her but Ariadne is completely passive. I wanted Ariadne to disappear off to Naxos and preside over an island of liberated women and kick Dionysus to the kerb. They both meet their end exactly because of men and their position as women.

So that's a fairly miserable outcome. But given the world we currently inhabit, entirely realistic, actually.

I didn't want this to end. This is the second novel that I've read by Shafak this year and they were both beautiful. I really loved this.

I mean, there's a lot of ice hockey. It's pretty slow in the build up but once momentum gets going it gets better. Some of it feels a bit cheesy and a bit melodramatic. There are particular bits that are really badly drawn. The wife's colleague, who never gets a name - just a pair of lips and tits really - which really annoyed me. There was no need. But it handles the subject well. The mix of team spirit,. fraternity and how that mingles with toxic masculinity, economics and sexism was handled realistically I think.

I loved this book, really witty, just enough intellectual tidbits to make you feel clever that you 'got' them, not too much to make you feel stupid. Fun characters I actually rooted for for once, and despite REALLY hating Punch and Judy (shudder) good enough to make me read on once I realised what I was dealing with. Will be getting the rest of this series for sure.

Right. This kept my attention just about but my god it was bloody miserable.