Barbara Wright Boeken

On a crowded bus at midday, the narrator observes one man accusing another of jostling him deliberately. When a seat is vacated, the first man takes it. Later, in another part of town, the man is spotted again, while being advised by a friend to have another button sewn onto his overcoat. Exercises in Style retells this apparently unremarkable tale ninety-nine times, employing a variety of styles, ranging from sonnet to cockney to mathematical formula. Too funny to be merely a pedantic thesis, this virtuoso set of themes and variations is a linguistic rust-remover, a guide to literary forms and a demonstration of imagery and inventiveness.

Set in a Victorian era that stifles female ambition, Anny, the daughter of author William Thackeray, navigates life after her father's death. Tasked with supporting her sister and their unstable mother, she grapples with unrequited love for Leslie Stephen, who ultimately marries her sister Minny. Finding solace on the Isle of Wight, Anny connects with her father's renowned friends, including poet Alfred Tennyson and photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, providing her a glimpse into a world of creativity and eccentricity.