I enjoyed this book but not as much as the Mulberry Empire which I loved. It is probably not fair to compare them in this manner because this is a very different book, modern as opposed to historical fiction. Hensher is always original and never boring. This book was published in 1996 and was his 2nd novel. I read with interest the comments that it was somewhat controversial because one of the characters is a clerk in the House of Commons who uses rent boys. The real story is about a hopelessly dysfunctional family (the clerk and his adult daughters),several other characters who interact with the family, sibling rivalry, and ultimately a murder. The conversations and situations are frequently very amusing despite the murder and other somewhat sordid bits. Highly enjoyable generally available, a reprint by Flamingo was done in 2003. ( )