I don't understand why this won the Man Booker prize. I'm familiar with the period and many of the characters because of my Ph.D. work in English literature of that time period, but this seemed designed to confuse those who aren't so familiar. I love "meaty" novels--War and Peace is my favorite--but this was just annoying. The writing was adequate but not exceptional. Character development was minimal. The plotting and dialog were only sometimes engaging.

I'm one of only two in my club who bothered to finish it. I'm glad I checked it out of the library and didn't buy it. I certainly wouldn't read it again or recommend it to anyone else.