anna_amo 's review for:

Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson
4.0

3.5 This was a terrific read, set in the 1920s, clubland craziness, dark underworld making all the glitz grubby. People scarred from the war finding their way. A librarian gleefully turns herself into a spy. Perhaps there were a few too many characters to do them all justice but I did enjoy each of the protagonists.

Unfortunately this was a book that was all build up and minimal dénouement. The characters deserved more attention than they got at the end, which was basically a quick whip round summarising their fates and which generally made it feel like everything they'd worked for in the novel was for nothing. So yeah, I loved everything about it until I got short changed at the end.