Meanwhile, I have finished The Shadow of the Wind, and I have to say I do agree with someone commenting on my previous post on the novel who said he felt a bit disappointed after finishing it. And in my view, he settles for the wrong girl. Still a great read...

What hit me, though, was the way Reader's Group Notes had been added to the edition I read. They start without a pause and for a moment I confused the first page of Notes with the last of the story.

Anyway, I didn't appreciate my enjoyment being undermined by being asked what passages in the novel showed the authors sense of humour or what did I learn from the book about the Spanish Civil War.

I imagine soon, novels will be written only to satisfy the demands of Reader's Group Questionaires at the end. Maybe I should produce some Readers Group Notes of a novel I have yet to write and submit them for a publishing advance.

Anyway, I have now moved on to Daphne du Maurier's classic Rebecca - and have a horrible feeling there is a series of discussion point questions lurking at the end of the edition I have just bought. 'Twould have been better to have found a secondhand or library copy and be spared the pseudo gloss.