I had never read any of Hilary Mantel's novels to date but was fascinated by the recent dramatisation of Wolf Hall by the Beeb. This was chosen as our book of the month for wine club, sorry I mean book club, partly because of the recent BBC Radio 4 book at bedtime serialisation.

From the beginning you're given a sense of foreboding arising from the memo that sets the future scene in the novel and the "memo" predetermines the readers expected outcome. The plot and the storyline are excellent and woven in to the fabric of the novel is the uncertain reality that exists when living in the middle east. It's the original home of fake news, and one never knows who to believe or indeed trust. Speaking as an former expat myself I could certainly relate several of the events and situations to my own life living in the region. What this novel highlighted for me was the inflexibility of the protagonist and, this for me made her slightly unlikeable. Still however the novel gets 5 stars from me, the best choice we've had for a while and I'll certainly be passing my copy on.