After Sappho: A Novel

This work of fiction is difficult to explain as there is really no plot or storyline propelling the action, although it seems to all relate to the Ancient Greek poet Sappho while incorporating a number of important historical and literary women across time. Each chapter focuses on a different individual, with a number of short paragraphs depicting a different incident or scene. The main theme, from what one can gather, is the idea of not becoming part of a pre-determined life that was waiting for them and dictated by the mores of the day but instead striking out on their own, becoming their own person and becoming something greater in the grand scheme of things. This is really a series of short vignettes with one thin thread connecting them. There is not too much here, even with the book being longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2022. I did not find personally too much to keep my attention or to keep reading to the end because it became fairly repetitive part way through. One could even anticipate what would be said next.