Up lit

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This novel weaves together two strands, 1970s Brighton and contemporary times to answer questions Billie has about her parents, having recently discovered that she was adopted. Along the way the reader is introduced to various eccentric characters, including the Madame Burova of the title.

Although difficult subjects are touched on, such as the racism and sexism endemic in the 1970s, the reader is made to feel that everything is all right in the end. As such the novel certainly belongs in the world of up lit, uplifting literature.

I enjoyed the book and read it in one day, although to me the answer to the question of Billie’s parentage seemed rushed at the end of the novel, and things worked out a little too conveniently. The love between Madame Burova and Cillian was much more authentic, the very end of the novel was so bittersweet as she, and the reader, know just how much he means to her, and she to him. I would recommend this as a gentle and distracting read.