Very engaging, and a thoroughly odd central character, a man with almost zero masculine traits whose journey is by parts calamitous, hilarious and tragic. At first I found Merivel to be somehow unwholesome, but eventually, his humanity wins through. He is entirely Venusian, with a liberal sprinkling of Jove and struggle to contend with the Saturnine elements of his life, until he is left with no other option. It seems an apt cautionary tale for us all, and in the end his big-heartedness redeems him. Much of the novel is set in my 'home' environs of Norfolk, so I found the author's sympathy with the timeless elements of that fair county, most agreeable.

I shall be reading the sequel.