Book 83: "The Book of Loss" by Julith Jedamus

I do not trust things that are white any more than I trust men who say they are honest, or virgins who believe they are pure. For white is the colour of snow and ashes, and belongs to the realm of priests and sorcerers. Yet I envy the certainty of those who despise its opposite. The dark is full of doubt.

A tale of the rivalry between two ladies-in-waiting at the Japanese court in the Heian period. The narrator has disappeared from court, leaving behind papers telling the story of her rivalry with Izumi. The women had arrived at court in the same year and used to be friends, but when Izumi started an affair with the narrator's lover Kanesuke, their relationship was irreparably destroyed, and the narrator knows in her heart that her lover prefers her younger and more beautiful rival.

And now that their lover has been exiled for seducing the Vestal of Ise (one of the Emperor's daughters), they spend their time in a battle conducted by rumour, pretty thefts, vandalism and letter-writing, not caring who else might be caught in the crossfire or how they may damage themselves by their virulent jealousy.


A very enjoyable book by a first-time author.

Book 84: "The Vesuvius Club" by Mark Gatiss

'Well, bless my soul!' whispered Lucky.
For within the coffin was revealed a cloth dummy, its innards stuffed with straw, its eyes and mouth merely crude stitching like that on some common scarecrow.
'Ha!' I cried triumphantly. 'Exactly what I expected to find!'
Which was a bloody lie but there you are.

A humorous spy story set in Edwardian London and Naples. Lucifer Box is a well-known portrait painter and dandy. He is witty and decadent, with a fondness for the seedier fleshpots of Edwardian London, and by page five I was convinced that he was a sociopath. He also has a secret life as a spy and assassin for the British secret service, and his adventures in Naples (once he was over his sea-sickness) tracking down the people responsible for the disappearance of three vulcanologists, were exciting and very entertaining.