Set in 1920s London, this novel revolves around the Coker family and their nightclubs. A young librarian is searching for a friend’s daughter, while a Scotland Yard detective is trying to expose a corrupt policeman. The two join forces to uncover the truth. I enjoyed the historical setting and the inspiration for Nelly Coker, who was based on Kate Meyrick. As always with Kate Atkinson, the writing is witty and often very funny. However, I missed the magical, tender atmosphere that I have found in her other novels.
“Freda’s father was rarely awarded a name by Gladys now that he was in the afterlife. He was simply “your father” when Gladys spoke about him to Freda, or quite often “a pig,” awarding him in Freda’s eyes a mythic quality, as if he had come down from Mount Olympus especially to impregnate Gladys before absconding back to the divine regions. In Freda’s book of Greek myths, girls seemed to be in almost continual danger from being taken unaware by an over-eager Zeus in the form of a swan or a bull. Even an ant. Why not a pig?”