The Phoenix Inheritance

A mature and sophisticated piece of work and a refreshing change from all the chic-lit material one has to deal with these days. It has a great deal to recommend it not least that it is so very carefully structured. To produce what really amounts to a family saga through such a long time period and manage to hold it all together takes some doing and the author deserves a huge pat on the back. The background and setting are the book's great strengths. The context is excellent. There is a sense in which the book is something of a social history and many people could gain a lot from it almost by default. The plot structure is very good. The plots and themes retain the reader's interest and are interwoven with skill. Cultural and social elements interlink quite splendidly. Direct speech has been used with purpose. Characterisation is good with no use of stereotypes. The descriptive quality is almost Dickenesque in its precision. It is good writing. This is a good book, well constructed, a very well written novel with significant messages