John Wheatcroft

Don’t be fooled by the epistolary form of this novel—it is a wonderful and engrossing read. Every letter writer’s voice is unique and distinctive. His divorced second wife Leila’s hilarious couplets are very memorable as is her poison-penned fury at her cheating husband. The fundamentalist Xian brother sounds just like such a narrow-minded fellow should sound. But all of the letter writers, the mother with Alzheimer’s, the son who turns out to be gay, the Swedish daughter longing for her “real” father, the chap selling the pornographic Japanese art, the officious doctors, the money launderer, the cousin who had a sexual relationship with Felix when young, all are brilliantly realized. And the purposely crude line drawings are a wonderful touch as well.