Jonathon Dee is a new author to me and I was interested to read the book. I did enjoy it insofar as I wanted to finish it and was interested to see how it would unravel, but I was left thinking ' i'm not sure about this one...'. I found the character Molly and her dysfunctional family absorbing at the beginning of the book, but Molly became less convincing as a character as she grew up. I never really warmed to John, the main male character either. Perhaps this was because Dee switched the viewpoint of the book between the characters and this broke my connection with them. The book was set in an advertising firm and Dee throws in lots of ideas about the nature of advertising - these all felt a bit dated and I lost interest in the book as it became more about the advertising world and less about Molly. So - I'm not sure...I did want to finish it, so it is worth reading, but I think it is quite a patchy book and a bit dated.

I finished reading this book a few hours ago and am still a little perplexed about what to say here. Odd is a word that keeps coming to mind and also thought-provoking. The novel looks at John Wheelwright, a successful advertising artist living in New York. When John is presented with the opportunity to work for a new firm - one where advertising has no branding and pushes the boundaries of acceptability - he leaves his life to risk this new venture. The novel also follows Molly, a popular young girl who's life I changed forever following an affair with an older married man. When Molly and John date as youngsters and she leaves him clueless and heartbroken, she doesn't anticipate the ending when their lives collide again many years later. It's a very unusual novel and I think the way in which it is written is intended to reflect the questions in the novel - seemingly, what do we need in life, can we survive without the trimmings and what really is art? The novel is written in three sections - the first in third person really sets the scene, introduces the characters and explains the concept of advertising without branding or any knowledge of the business. It's a really good introduction to the people we are going to meet throughout the remainder of the novel and Dee has created some interesting people, particularly Molly who comes from a disinterested family and is ostrasized when she makes one mistake as a child. For me, the key part in this section was the concept of advertising based around a concept rather than a brand. Dee explains this really well, and I was completely bought into this and think if this were how the whole advertising worked then I would pay a little more interest. The second section is written from Johns perspective, and it is in this part that Molly re-enters his life and the significance of past actions becomes apparent. It is also where disaster strikes for the firm, and getting this from Johns view really presents this in the best way and gives the reader great insight into the full implications of what happens. It is the final section of this novel which I found a little strange. The final part of the novel is written in short sections from the perspective of many of the characters we come across in the novel - some who were central to the story and others who were on the periphery. These sections are a little odd and I think it is here where Dee tries to convey his message about the trappings of life and what is the true meaning of art. However, I found the short sections in this part of the novel were what really changed my thoughts about this novel. Through section 1 and 2 I really liked the novel, the characters and where it was going. But sections 3 was a little disjointed, didn't really conclude things in a logical way and left many questions, but unfortunately, none of these were the questions I think Dee intended the reader to be left with. So its a little odd and a little disappointing but has some good sections and interesting concepts which I did enjoy.