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It certainly wasn’t a book lacking in – anything. Full of lots of character, life changing decision points for them, thoughts on life and love, local setting, social commentary, tragedy and joy, some exquisite writing. But you know what they say – sometimes less is more. Those of you who read the afterword noted that it was useful and insightful.

It was well described as “developmental not suspenseful” – a narrative full of life, as it happens, rather than gasping turning-point moments, with a cast of characters used to demonstrate the various factions and changes in Burma.

For a debut novelist this was an assured novel – nothing blinding about the prose, but with enough layers and twists, enough ‘breadcrumbs dropped’ to keep the pages turning.

A ” playful post-modernist puzzle” indeed ( quoted by The Telegraph) but one which left many of us irritated.  Perhaps if we had given up diligently trying to read it (a) to a deadline and (b) to make sense of it, we might have enjoyed the puzzle a little more.

Despite the story being a well-known path (Homer’s Iliad), Barker manages to create some dramatic tension from the get go, and conveys the sense of sisterhood behind the enslaved women, albeit with a caste system all too obvious. But by the end, why had she lost a few enthusiastic readers?

It prompted – as a non-fiction work always does – a really interesting discussion on many topics, including the role of government in enforcing health initiatives, the (unfortunate) power of big business and the need for  young adults to be aware of these issues – by perhaps reading this book!