Sexuality, desire and creativity are the themes of Pages for Her, the sequel to Brownrigg’s 2001 cult romance, Pages for You, which chronicled a love affair between 17-year-old student and aspiring author Flannery and an older woman, Anne. This sequel, set 20 years on, finds Flannery in an unhappy marriage to Charles and plagued by “an unnamed despondency”. Then, at a writers’ conference, she is reunited both with Anne and her former self. The “yearnings and frustrations” of the characters in the present day are compellingly captured; so too is the rekindling of Flannery’s passion for life and writing. But the bulk of the novel, covering the years between, is freighted with cliche. Overall, Pages for Her is a shadow to the flesh-and-blood of Pages for You.
• Pages for Her by Sylvia Brownrigg is published by Picador (£14.99). To order a copy for £12.74 go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99
