From Amazon -
"A richly comic tale of the tangled fortunes of two theatrical families, the Hazards and the Chances, Angela Carter's witty and bawdy new novel is populated with as many sets of twins, and mistaken identities as any Shakespeare comedy, and celebrates the magic of over a century of show business."

My son read this for A level English Lit and hated it. I'll give it a go and see what I think.

Too many books, too little time. This one will have to go.

Going in to my Fiction Mix 6 bookbox.

Picked out of the box on the strength of the author (have read the bloody chamber)..looking forward to the read! book box on way soon

'Inventive and brilliant'..yes I would agree with The Times.' Funny'? I didn't quite get it. It is peppered with many amazing,comical characters with these rich,eccentric lives but that does not make the novel funny. The author writes in such a way that almost falls over itself in an effort to get you to fall in love with the novel; like a really needy friend, it just doesn't let you be, to digest what's going on, to let the reader discover in their own time what they will from the book. In parts, this drove me to distraction and I had to just put it away. There were two characters I did enjoy..Peregrine and Dolly. With Peregrine, it is very difficult to remember he is barely 40;it's like he's lived a hundred lifetimes and at times I had this feeling he wasn't a little supernatural. Dolly is a complete old bag and therein lies her charm! This wasn't the easiest of Angela Carter's novels but it shouldn't deter readers from rooting out her other,many works.
Now to find a new home for it

'who's wishing for this book?'
It's Huffpuff! On it's way to you with kindest regards

Just receieved this in the post!
Thank you jules5 for the very kind RABCK.
Onto to the TBR shelf it goes!

I really did not get on with this book at all! I didn't like the writing style or find it funny and had no idea what was going on half the time! I got about halfway through before giving up and looking on wikipedia for what happens in the second half!

I have tagged this in the wishlist tag game so will be sending it off as a RABCK this week. Hopefully the recipient will enjoy it more than I did.

Sent as a RABCK as part of the Wishlist Tag game to shnedwards. Enjoy!

It's arrived! Thank you very much Huffpuff!

I liked this book. I liked its exuberance. I didn't discover the list of dramatis personae at the back until I'd nearly finished, which was a pity, as I could have done with it at times.

Reserving for the Colchester Unconvention, probably.

Edit: Reserving for the 1001 Books VBB at BookObsessed.com instead.

On its way to crimson-tide in Australia by surface mail.

It's here! Thanks shnedwards.

And thanks for the tip about the list of dramatis personae at the back too... :-)

I also thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's crazy, and rollicks along at a great pace; written as a farce, and really needs to be read as one. However it's also well written in my opinion, and also well plotted.

Spotted on a BookCrosser's wish list...

So sending off to VeganMedusa in New Zealand as the October recipient of the Southern Cross Book Exchange.

Have fun!

Thanks, crimson-tide, for this well-travelled book! I have yet to read any of Carter's books, but she comes highly recommended.