So this starts off with a delightful little prelude about a child inventing the imaginary world of Mape... which we never hear about again :( .
The main story then starts, which is divided into 3 parts, subtitled the Writer, the Reader and the Interpreter.
The Writer describes the real events which informed Goethe's [b: Sorrows of Young Werther|16640|The Sorrows of Young Werther|Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386920896s/16640.jpg|746264]. The Reader is about a frenchman who, supposedly inspired by the works of Balzac, gets into a love affair. And the Interpreter is about the life of famous british actress Mrs.Siddons.

The writing is good and its an easy read. While i doubt the accuracy, the biographical and historical details are intriguing and the author paints some nice scenes.

However given the opening.. parable?, metaphor?.. whatever that was, plus the chapter subtitles, this is clearly advertised as an examination of our relationship with fiction and while technically these stories fit, its very clear that the theme was created to tie together these disparate tales, rather than the tales being written on a theme.

Also i was very close to deducting a star during the last story. Putting aside some melodramatic elements which seemed written, not just set, in the 1700s. The narrative clearly sets up the actresses problem with performing Lady Macbeth (which would become her most famous role), however it then wanders completely off the topic, in the same way this whole book wanders off topic, leading to a frustrating conclusion.

What you get is quite enjoyable but the author really needs to stop moving the football. ( )