Purchased from amazon.co.uk when feeling flushed one day. I've been keen to read it for a while now.

This book was not an easy read and my opnion but the characters were very real. As revolting as they each were in their way, they were also very recognisable archetypes and of the same age of my social set. Had I stayed in Australia, these people would have been my peers. I would have attended the BBQ so to speak.

While the revelations within weren't as ground breaking as the zeitgeist surrounding this book had suggested/promised, it still dealt with some pertinent issues. It did have my moral code swinging wildly as I tried to decide who was in the wrong and worthy most of my judgement at any one time.

Everytime I pass through Berkhamsted on a train or on my boat, I dream about the castle. The ruins look so romantic and 'other' that I've always meant to visit them. Having been moored in town for a couple of weeks now, I took my chance this morning and went for a ramble over the earthworks and through the grounds.

I left this on a bench in plain view of anyone walking into the castle grounds.