The Pleasures of Men

The narrators do a wonderful job, but even so, after 5 hours of listening I gave up, something I very rarely do, as I simply couldn't follow the plot and had no idea what was going on. Perhaps one to listen too in sections of 3-4 hours.

This is appalling writing, and a tedious unbelievable plot. The primary narrator is the pits as well (breathy,drawling monotony). I can't believe I listened all the way to the end. I think I was listening in disbelief, hoping it would get better, but it just got worse.

I persevered with this book because the characters were quite intrguing and the storyline following the murders of the lower class girls in London was interesting. I did not understand why the main female character was so tormented by her past and the regression on many occasions to previous experiences/dreams/fantasies made the whole read very disjointed. Having finally discovered the truth of her past, she simply runs away and the final 3 chapters on her life in France as a teacher seem to bear no relevance to the rest of the story whatsover and I have no idea why it was included. Unfortunately this one book by Kate Williams has put me off reading any future ones.

I find it hard to emphasise how much I hated this book. The authoress drags it out and the plot stumbles and meanders and it's just so boring. I kept on until the bitter end hoping that it would get better. It didn't.