VeganCleopatra

This was a surprisingly entertaining read. I enjoyed Alexander's writing style and her choices for her characters. While set in Victorian England, the featured female characters (especially Emily, Cecile and Margaret) do not allow themselves to be constrained by the stuffy societal pressures of the time. But, the characters still manage to come across as realistic for their time period rather than feeling too modern. The writing brought forth the time period rather well I felt, although more for the society rather than the actual physical setting. I loved the incorporation of ancient art and the Iliad in the novel, and the subsequent interest Emily gained for art and language. The mystery, which was a welcome surprise after not having read the summary after being on my TBR for so long, was well-written and fairly convincing as possible in the day.

The romantic element in the book was unnecessary, IMO, but well done. I found Emily's growing fondness for her deceased husband both convincing and rather sad, as she only came to love him after death. One of my only complaints about the novel involves Emily's dead husband, Philip. He was an avid hunter and died in Africa while hunting elephants. As one absolutely against all hunting, I found this irritating and I myself could not come to like or love Philip as Emily did. (This is even moreso the case if you consider the ongoing plight of elephants today, which will possibly be extinct in 10 years due to human cravings for ivory. Yes, their numbers were stronger in the late 19th century but the human greed element was still ultimately present and vile to me.) But Emily did speak against hunting so I hope hunting does not become a theme or recurring element in some way.