St Aubyn, in other words, knows what it is to be in a family, like Lear’s, that values status and money over love and loyalty. The only time we feel the pull of “serious” writing is during the scenes of Dunbar’s madness, which are ably handled. Being the only one to put her father’s well-being over the company share price doesn’t save poor Florence from St Aubyn’s sword, however. The risk with the Hogarth series was that it would come off like a high-school English assignment for literary A-listers. This tale of a wealthy, arrogant, insecure egomaniac who surrounds himself with mutiny-ready incompetents confirms the series’ inarguable premise: that Shakespeare is a writer for all ages, but it also confirms that St Aubyn is one of the sharpest of our own.

Source: thestar October 20, 2017 10:07 UTC