Plucking the Apple (by Elizabeth Palmer)

(Amazon UK link)

I'd never heard of Elizabeth Palmer before. But the book was one of those white ones with an interesting colourful picture on the front, and the blurb on the back said that it was a comedy of modern manners. So I didn't mind at all paying 20 pence or so in a charity shop.

However, I was not impressed with 'Plucking the Apple'.

The story opens with a dinner party. It then continues by switching between the viewpoints of various characters who had been at the party. It's a clever device, I suppose, but that's about all I can say.

The book is fast-moving, but with little plot, no characterisation, and a lot of sex. It's rather tasteless at times, too. Friends betray each other, lovers use each other, and there's even a murder towards the end.

Frankly, I found this novel rather depressing, on the whole. I suppose it was meant to be a dark caricature of some parts of modern society. But there certainly wasn't any comedy in it.

I would not recommend this at all. But others feel differently, so don't necessarily take my word for it.