Richard Fidler, The Golden Maze. Agatha Christie writing as Mary Westmacott, The Rose And The Yew Tree

 'Read over the last few very wet days, which coupled with my very painful hips has limited the options for activities and meant a lot of reading. 'The Golden Maze' was a history of Prague, although as often turns out the case it was less of a history of the city's development and more of a collection of stories about notable inhabitants (Emperor Rudolph, the golem, John Dee) and a general history of that part of Europe, particularly the 20th century where the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the rise of Nazism and communism and then the fall of the communism didn't really say anything specific about Prague. Still an entertaining read though. I'm not sure what to make of The Rose and The Yew Tree, which had me absorbed all the way through until the end, which made no sense at all to me. An excellent novel skewering class towards the end of WWII was ruined for me with one of the main characters making a completely illogical choice and ruining so many lives. I went back to listen to 'A Good Read' which put me on to the book in the first place to try and understand, but the line they are going with was that sexual attraction surpassed all, even when one is attracted to one utterly repulsive and unsuitable. Not sure I buy that, but maybe that's just unromantic me.