This has been sat in my TBR pile for years and I've never made time to read it. I think I knew it would be labyrinthine and twisty and so put it off.

But how stupid of me, because I loved it. This book is an homage to film noir and gothic fiction of the eighteenth and nineteenth century - it's a timeless piece of fiction that reads as a part of all of history.

One could niggle. The female characters exist only in relation to the men in their lives - and they exist only within the moral binary of all gothic women - but I guess that's the price of a gothic piece.

It did get a bit twisted even for me and did wonder just how many subplots we were going to get.

But, it all met back together in the way that it should have. Of course, if you have any slight knowledge of gothic fiction or eighteenth century fiction, none of the plot is surprising - it's all quite obvious where it's all going. But that was the comfort for me - to see it done so well even though the core story is a familiar one.

I'll definitely be reading the rest of these, I think there are three more.

I don't think I've ever read any Vietnamese literature before but this has certainly whetted my appetite.

This is a good old revenge plot with some kooky supernatural details that I guess are inspired by myths and superstitions of Vietnamese culture. I have no idea about these myths or superstitions but this novel has made me want to read more.

I thought this novel was clever, it encompasses a wide time frame of Vietnam's violent 20th century bringing together seemingly disparate threads and narratives and tying them all together into a neat little plot that explores issues of possession and exploitation in relation to both the land and the female body.

I'm excited to see what this author comes up with next.

This had all the makings of a great novel but for some reason it didn't quite do it for me.

It explores some interesting themes - violence against women, generational trauma, child abuse, secrets and shame. The power of the past. How these things impact across generations and bleed into all of our relationships. But it was all kind of dull to me.

I knew it would be a non starter as soon as I started. I rarely have any sympathy or understanding for infidelity; I'm pretty black and white where that's concerned so I was on the wrong foot with both the main characters from the start.

What follows is a history of misogyny against all the women in the story, catalogue after catalogue of child abuse, rape, infidelity, manslaughter etc etc and an, at times, interesting exploration of the impact that our pasts, and the collective pasts of our families have on our current and future selves.

My biggest problem was that the central relationship just didn't feel sold to me. I didn't believe in the relationship between Elle and Jonas. And that kind of undoes it all really. I also really couldn't get on board with Elle. She was so passive and any time she made a decision, she berated herself. It became infuriating. I appreciate that I haven't had any level of trauma in my life but frankly if I had allowed someone to drown after they raped me, I just can't imagine holding that much guilt. I think I'm more like Anna than Elle though.

So yeah, it was fine in terms of theme but most of the characters annoyed me.

P.S really enjoyed all the pearl clutching in the rest of the reviews. How dare you recommend a book that has CHILD ABUSE in it Reese. Think of the children would you. It's not even relevant to the story

Goodness, I'd like to give this 6,7,8 stars. What a glorious read. This novel was *exquisite*. The tension and atmosphere. It was slow in parts, much like Hamnet, but every delicious sensation is pulled out in luxurious detail. No word, no scene, no expression is wasted or thrown away. Every sentence is structured to a point, to throw something into relief.

I ummed and aahhed about this one - I really enjoyed Hamnet but I found it very slow and the tension was almost painful. This had much more pace I felt - there were scenes that were really pored over, but here it always felt appropriate for the scene.

If this even slightly tickles your fancy, I implore you to read it. It's one of those books I am sad I won't get to read for the first time again, but I will read it again for sure.

*listened on audiobook*

God this was dull! Super well researched, and really informative if you want to know every minute detail about coats of arms and boring things like - she was the wife of the second lord of nowhere twice removed who was closely related to the daughter of the second cousin of the dukes lord of the bedchamber. Very dry. And actually most of them didn't do much very interesting. And as with lots of these books the women are held to a much higher moral code. It's literally a whole book dedicated to men who couldn't keep it in their pants but somehow the women come off worse.

This had a lot going on. In that same sort of vein as White Teeth (though much smaller!) it felt a bit like it was dealing with too much all at once and so it got a bit diluted.

But having said that, I enjoyed it much more than White Teeth. The focus was in the right places. Unsurprisingly this book is first and foremost about friendship. And there are some great observations about friendships. But it's also about class, and race and morality and sexism and power - but none of those things takes precedence and the story and characters aren't sacrificed to any of them in particular.

It felt slow in parts and it's not an action packed novel, but it's a thoughtful exploration of female friendship across the decades and I felt there was a lot more that could be said. I wanted to read about these characters for longer.

Another fun and twisting plot from Hallet. All three of her recent novels have been intensely readable and fun. This one teased throughout and had great red herrings and enough leading to make you feel you were going to figure it out. Enjoyable!

3.5*

This was really bleak. I've spent a few weeks immersed in Civil War Spain and it's pretty miserable.

I struggled to get into it and bits dragged. I thought the end was a bit melodramatic and convenient. I just about bought Sandy turning up at the end, but Meastre turning up was a step too far.

And then Bernie dies anyway, making the whole thing a complete waste of time and Sofia dying a total waste.

It was nicely written and I was invested in everyone and it presented the history well, so I can't score it less than that - by the end I was invested in what was going to happen to everyone.

I should have really enjoyed this. Supernatural, myth, ghosts and spirits and possession. But for a reason I cannot put my finger on, I didn't massively enjoy this.

I found the language quite challenging, the switching in and out of different languages. I found the plot a bit hard to follow and not particularly interesting. I wasn't that bothered by any of the characters - I didn't feel sold on any of them.

It's not a terrible novel, by any means, but it didn't quite have the hook for me, so I think I made less effort and made it worse for myself.

*listened on Audible*

A thoroughly engaging analysis of one of my favourite centuries. I am not sure it's a revolutionary (pun intended) exploration of the 17th Century - I felt familiar with the focus and direction it went in, and I am by no means up to date with my historical academia.

But it felt well researched, it was lively and balanced and it kept my interest throughout, despite being an area of history that I know moderately well.