Some parts of book were excellent, the writing straight from the heart, the way the author describes passion, self-loathing, etc. Story line, however, very jumbled, and several times the same device used - a group of people meeting, debating - the pub in England, the dinner party at Bricknell's, the crowd at Sir William Franks', the gatherings with the ex-pat colony in Florence. Some of the figures were not developed, and it was just dialogue, no character developments, speechifying, really. I kept waiting for Josephine Ford, or Sir William to re-appear later in the narrative, but they didn't. It seemed like I wasted time getting into their characters, and then, nothing. Liked how "frenemies" were sketched, either Lilly or the Marchese. Some of the gatherings and characters (Dekker, for example) had homosexual overtones, and in particular, the way Lilly washes Aaron when the latter has the flu. The book seems very much of its time, the way it goes on about WWI, Bolshevism, anarchists, etc.
PS - second time I read this book, the first time in 1971. I think it had more impact on me then, than now. When Aaron walks out on family, early in book, that got my attention 40 years ago, resonating with my own history.