A Whistling Woman

There are several Byatt titles on my daughter’s shelves, though I have read little of her work before now. Tour de Force is not too much to say; I hadn’t realized that a novel so thick with literary and mythological allusions, not to mention some very challenging philosophical, theological, and even mathematical discussions among the characters, could even be published in the 21st century.

With all that, it is never dull for a minute!

Byatt has Iris Murdoch’s unusual gift for making ideas exciting, even sexy, and an even more protean imagination, proliferating and recombining characters and storylines with… show more.