I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. I decided to read it because the blurb promised that this is a "powerful and searching novel" and a "masterly portrait of ambivalent sexuality". Well, the words "ambivalent sexuality" were the decisive factor. It's not often that I manage to resist a book that promises, or only vaguely hints at that. The Antique Collector is the story told by the protagonist, Jack Shuttleworth, to his late friend and protector, Garrick Dodds, in the summer of 1915 with the country in the throes of the Great War. Raised in a workhouse, Jacky had always been treated as a boy and a girl, and eventually made his living as a female impersonator. As Mr Dodds's protégé, he was able to spend most of his days as a woman. A captivating novel. ( )