2008-09-03 A subtle, intelligent read

I was surpised by the poor reviews of this book. I found it a little hard to get into at first, partly because although I found the main character sympathetic her indulgence of her abusive husband is hard to understand and quite frustrating from the outside. However I imagine it is realistic as there must be a reason women who suffer domestic violence often put up with it for a long time - making excuses for their partners and putting off leaving for various reasons. Tbe pace is a bit slow in the first half of the book, possibly because I am now used to reading fast paced blockbusters that you can finish in an hour. But it really picked up in the second half and I twas then glad that it had built up to it. There is some truth in what people have said about the sex scenes, very tame by today's standards, but I don't think graphic scenes would have sat very comfortably with the general tone of the book. I felt the characters had real depth, even the abusive husband, who was protrayed not as an evil monster but as a deeply flawed individual. Probably not worth reading if you have no interest at all in politics but I would recommend it. I am a career woman by the way!