I had to stop reading this book about 70 pages in. I cannot follow it to save my life. Does not hold my attention at all. ( )

Hands up, anyone else who hasn’t read Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock? Not just me then. Thank heavens. Mind you, you don’t really need to have read it in order to enjoy this fictionalised account of its creation. Gee brings late Stuart London to life in all its snobbish splendour: here are the coffee houses, the levees and masquerades, the self-obsessed glittering mass of the nobility and the hungry throng of writers snapping at their heels. One of these, hungrier and more ambitious than the rest, is a young Catholic poet named Alexander Pope, who has come to London hoping to make his name...

For the rest of the review, please see my blog:
https://theidlewoman.net/2016/12/05/the-scandal-of-the-season-sophie-gee/ ( )

Alexander Pope and 'The Rape of the Lock'.

I enjoyed the flavour of the early eighteenth century in this novel; the decadent rich and the wannabes, but the story itself was a bit thin and the ending was disappointing. Having said that, the audiobook was the perfect entertainment for long periods in traffic jams. Cameron Stewart's narration was good (though his womens' voices were a bit painful!) and the narrative didn't require too much concentration.

The central character is Alexander Pope, a poet who is, according to Wikipedia, 'Famous for his use of the heroic couplet and the second-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare.'
Pope is in London hoping to find inspiration for a poem that will make his name. He is mixing in wealthy circles on the back of his two published works. His circle is a bit of a cast of thousands who I struggled to remember, but it is the relationship that develops between Arabella Fermor and Lord Petre that provides the romance and Lord Petre's involvement with a Jacobite plot to kill the queen, that provides the intrigue.

I wouldn't particularly recommend this book and I'm glad that I had it in audio, but if you're a fan of Alexander Pope it could be worth reading. ( )

Recensione su: http://wp.me/p3X6aw-h6
Review at: http://wp.me/p3X6aw-h6 ( )

I can't get into this. The writing is not great, and the POV jumps around too much.