This is one of the most depressing books I have read for a long time, so don't for goodness sake buy it for anyone as a gift. The quality of writing is fine but the subject matter is grim and and the main character, Deirdre, is the most self centred, selfish and grubby individual you will ever hope to come across in a novel. The book is longlisted for this year's Women's Prize and I can only think it got there because it describes a female character that the judges couldn't help but find memorable. Deirdre is a white woman living in South Africa, and after an explosion at her family home in her late teens, one of her legs was injured so badly that she had to have it amputated at the knee. She was offered a prosthetic leg, but didn't get on with it, so continues to use crutches and seems to prefer the more obvious evidence of her disability. If all this sounds a bit harsh on a person who has had part of her leg amputated, then I'm sorry about that, but...