"If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country." Piers Paul Read's [The Villa Golitsyn] explores the implications of Forster's celebrated remark in a narrative of engrossing complexity….

In summary, the plot sounds like a Famous Five adventure peopled by drunks and sexual frustrates…. But Piers Paul Read tries to dignify the extravagant element in his novel by drawing a number of parallels between its various worlds. As Milson tries to understand the secret of Ludley's past, issues raised by remote historical events are reflected in contemporary personal crises. The original question—how could Ludley behave so uncharacteristically as to betray a friend?—is mirrored in Milson's own worry about the rights and wrongs of seducing Priss, and in his wondering how youthful radicalism and energy can decline into middle-aged, boozy disillusionment. It...