by Edward St. Aubyn
Rating: ***
I was a bit disappointed in this, the last of the Melrose novels. I felt it was a bit formulaic and lazy focusing it entirely on Eleanor's funeral. I felt there was a running out of steam and quite a bit unexplained that needed explaining. The whole Priory reminiscences were the stuff of caricature and I found the new character of Fleur at the funeral simply token, irritating and out of place. All in all, this just was not, for me, a satisfying conclusion. I found it similar in vein to 'Some Hope' in that I felt St Aubyn had run out of places to go with Patrick so fell back on biting social observance. Certainly readable if you have read the others but no good as an introduction to St Aubyn, in my opinion.
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