At times she sounds like a judo expert, a film technician, an antique dealer or a newly paroled nun. Those who like sex, jokes and surprises can become rather defensive about not reveling in Murdoch. And perpetual change is the only tradition known to these victims of emotional pratfalls. All of them churn in pursuit of the ultimate loved one, but as soon as Randall or Martin wins over Lindsay or Georgia, he no longer wants her. Sex often fails as rehabilitation, and the sufferers have few joys beyond decanting the wine or admiring a sports car or a Tintoretto.
Life is merely a series of punishments, and they can only beg for more.
And the people, as always, are violently possessive of each other. But this novel is better written than many of its predecessors, and the focus has shifted. But he's unable to rescue his middle-aged brother, Austin, from his lethal pattern of bungling. Austin, the perennial victim who savors his role, berates others for pulling him down, but will no doubt bury them all. Even fictionally, such a rich character deserved some other wife than Dorina, the relentlessly elfin moongirl who crops up from the previous novels.