I won this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

It's different, well-written, mysterious, full of heavy atmosphere. There's a line near the end that Oscar asks: "What crime is there in self-preservation?" that encapsulates the novel's exploration. Three characters, Oscar, Marilyn, and Christine (plus Barnaby in everyone's background), are searching for their own way to deal with the circumstances they have been given. Drugs, sex, the blackmarket, are some of the options they explore in London, Shanghai, and Long Island (pre, during, and post- world war II).

The novel is deep and intense, and could certainly be re-read and studied deeply to mine it for all of its nuances and themes. I liked it because it was unexpected and original.