The tumultuous events in this tale of a brilliant, eccentric and fatefully divided family begin with the staging of a play about Elizabeth I and come to a shattering climax sure to keep Byatt fans spellbound. nFrom the Booker Prize-winning author of Possession comes a wonderfully erudite novel in which enlightenment and sexuality, Elizabethan drama and contemporary comedy, intersect richly and unpredictably. nLarge, complex, ambitious, humming with energy and ideas ... a remarkable achievement. --Iris Murdochn