Shrines of Gaiety: A Novel

Loved it - a good insight to those years

I did enjoy the story but I don’t yet know whether I would go back and read it again. It took a while to get going whilst we were introduced to all the characters but though I began to get more involved in their stories there seemed to be a lot of loose ends. Why were the girls in the river and who was the invisible man are just a couple of them. The ending felt very abrupt and hurried and most unexpected. Superficial is the word for this book but I guess that is what it is saying about the bright young things and the shrines of gaiety.

I enjoyed it right up until the last few chapters. I felt the author suddenly realised she had to get the book finished and just suddenly wrapped it up . Also, the way Florence just turned up home with no explanation ever was just unbelievable.

Riveting.