I adored this novel from Kamila Shamsie - as ever, she writes about important issues in an utterly accessible and engaging way.

I'm sorry to say that this didn't work for me at all, after having loved Shamsie's 'Home Fire' and 'Burnt Shadows'. It opens in Karachi in 1988 with two fourteen year olds at school and the first half feels distinctively YA with lots of familiar material about growing into adult female bodies, competing for boys' attentions, rebelling against parents , discussing future ambitions and so on.

There's a pivotal encounter at the centre of the book which avoids melodrama and which is excellent on how young women recognise fear and the power that men may have over them in the world.

The latter sections set years later and in London are rather superficial: there are the uncovering of deeply-hidden emotions between the two women, and some rather implausible high-politicking at Chequers to enable a revenge plot.

The characters had so much potential, even if they're rather schematic in their differences but this feels like it's floundering around for a trajectory. It's probably telling that some of the most powerful writing comes in a throwaway scene set in a UK refugee deportation centre which is barely central to the plot.

Overall, this felt sadly shallow and too soap opera-ish for my tastes which is a shame as Shamsie can write with assurance and insight about the workings of power, culture, women and politics and I'd hoped for more of that here.