"The Life and Loves of a She-Devil", by Fay Weldon

Novel, 1983

Uncompromising, unsubtle parable looking at female stereotypes, suppression and power. All very enjoyable too, with the grotesque and phantasmagoric elements just keeping the narrative on a light, readable trajectory; the book doesn't so much preach as elegantly scream and gets its point over so forcibly and with charm and simplicity, it's hard not to see the world through an increasingly twisted anti-heroine's eyes and knives being twisted once backs have been stabbed. A cracking read.

"Chalcot Crescent", by Fay Weldon

Novel, 2009

A novel set in a crumbling London not so far in the future, in which political and counter political oppressions are played out against the backdrop of entangled family relationships. While the evocations of a ghoulish capital are strong, the complex inter-relationships and the hugely unreliable narrator make it difficult to follow what's going on and how characters related to each other. This may be intentional, but does lead to a frustrating read in what would otherwise be a belter.