I finished The Fourth Procedure by Stanley Pottinger. It's hard to review it without giving away the plot, or giving a misleading general notion (such as "women's issues" or "legal maneuvering"). The first half of the novel is slow, as the author lays the foundation work for an explosive second half. The issues and characters are all of us and the ethical situations and the choices the characters have to make are sure to speak to everyone who reads it, male or female, married or single, parent or not. (Interesting that I couldn't think of a word opposite to parent. Is there one?)

I highly recommend the book, but be prepared for some personally difficult passages. The issues the characters face are universal themes.

I'm currently reading Caesar's Women by Colleen McCullough. The men and women who move and love and hate through the pages have been dead for two thousand years, but they live in her book as real as today's news headlines and back yard gossip. My personal taste is for less of the detail piled upon detail and seemingly endless subplots, but it's always well-written and if you like the "why did what happen when it happen and to whom" you'll enjoy it. Periodically I get tired of it and have to put it to one side.

Somebody should have spanked Publius Clodius when he was a little boy. And Servilia should have been put out of her misery as a toddler. Two vicious trouble-makers and I expect it to get worse as they gather more influence.

Enough bloody-mindedness. Hope your weekend is bright and beautiful.