A meditative novel. More a book of ideas than of plot. It takes a burning topic and scrutinizes it through various lenses, not least race and age. And it’s a space for the author to display his fine skills of perception, wit, topicality and thought. As such, it’s a rich read, but not an especially compulsive one. His bestselling earlier book, Leave the World Behind, was a more successful fusion of story and ideas. Here the narrative can seem circular and not always credible. Brooke’s character seems a mutable thing, inexplicably solitary and sexless, increasingly infected (by the subway pricker? A good joke) by the idea of money and what is her due. I:enjoyed the exploration more than the storytelling, but always the quality of the writing buoyed the book up. He’s a rewarding writer. Never dull.