This could all make for salacious, fun reading, as these are deeply unpleasant people who spend years bickering with each other, but instead the novel is mostly dreary and Green’s prose is weighed down by a curious formality.
Dramatic if undercooked ... The plot... hints at farce, but the tone never finds its footing, as Green keeps things somber and sedate and the intimations of an illicit relationship between two of the characters evaporate on the way to an enigmatic conclusion. Only the most patient readers need apply.
