You know when a book blurb includes the phrase ‘mesmerising allegorical tale’ that you’re in trouble. If you’re and a literary heathen (like moi) that is.

I was reminded of Charlotte Wood’s The Natural Way of Things, which many Aussies were disappointed not to see on the Man Booker Prize long / short list… which I read in my own very logical and literal way; discovering later that it was dystopian fiction with some deep meaning I’d missed completely.