At present great importance is attached to the teaching of foreign languages. No doubt, it happens not without purpose

2. Prose and writing style of A.S. Byatt

All comes to a head when, after years working overseas (and having made no attempt to contact either sister), Simon returns and they end up vying (even Juliet who is nowhere near as happily married as she’d like to think she is or like others to think she is) for his attention. And they do both receive some attention from him but neither gets what they’re looking for; Simon also likes playing games. 

This is a psychologically complex novel and not the easiest of reads. It consists mainly of conversations, letters and journal entries and she has a terrible habit of beginning conversations and not even letting you know who’s talking to whom for two or three pages. From the context you can usually figure it out before she confirms it but it wouldn’t have taxed her to include a couple of attributions at the start to help us on our way.