In this, the third book in Byatt's quartet, we find Frederica fleeing an increasingly abusive marriage and trying to find a life in a 1960s world that recognises her as a mother/wife only, never flesh and blood. Woven in between Frederica's story is a grotesque, fantasy, novel which will later be trialled for obscenity.

As with all Byatt, the writing is as literate and rich with cultural references as you could hope.

Just magnificent.