This is a hugely erudite book, showing off the full range of Byatt's incredible intellect. It's packed dense with ideas and big questions and this means the narrative sometimes feels secondary. The plot focusses on two main threads - a difficult divorce that the main character Frederica is going through and an obscenity trial about a book she's connected to. But it's packed with so much more - deeply literary, complex and - occasionally - a bit dull, it's a pretty astonishing piece of work.