Reviews for Merciless Ladies

The average rating for Merciless Ladies based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-03-09 00:00:00 Pradeep Salian Traditional storytelling Graham provides a rich backdrop for his plot in which essentially British middle class characters pursue their hopes and dreams and suffer the consequences of an ill-matched marriage alliance. I particularly enjoyed the writer's description of Holly's eccentric and scholarly parents ,his court room scenes and clever build up of tension at the end of the novel.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-11-16 00:00:00 John Join The book is a fictional biography of the artist Paul Stafford told by a man who had been a friend of his childhood and youth. The narrator is presumably in his older years at the time of writing and he draws from his reminiscences to relate events which took place over a period of about 30 years. It is set early in the 20th century. The pace of the book starts quite slowly as scenes from their childhood are related but they are quite essential as they describe many of their mutual friends who are important in the development of the plot. Much like a river, the flow builds through the mid-section with life becoming more typical and their paths diverging, then reconnecting, as Paul's artistic training and the narrator, Bill Grant's career as a journalist takes him away. Many parts of Paul's life are known only from what Bill is told by mutual friends or in the papers. Paul seems to have a temperament common to artists in that he becomes absorbed in projects and this makes his life with women often quite tempestuous. His first marriage falls apart and he is taken up by Diana, a woman who sponsors him into the upper class and finally financial success. His portraits are well done and his fame spreads at least within London circles. The tension and pace builds when he quarrels with Diana and in a fit of pique she sues him. The worry has Paul taking a time-out from his painting and he invites Bill to join him on a boat trip for a month. This gives a brief respite before the pace again picks up and from there it is like the river going through rapids and turbulence before eventually coming to its ultimate conclusion. I enjoyed the book very much all through, however the shocking conclusion made my heart pound. These and the summing up have made The Merciless Ladies one of my favourite books of 2016.