The Children's Book - A. S. Byatt

A big dense saga about the complex intertwined lives of several families, stretching from 1895 to the aftermath of the First World War. This demanded concentration but richly rewarded it, as it seamlessly blended social and cultural history with a gripping novel about tangled relationships, betrayals, and the unintended and often tragic outcomes of trying to reconcile ideology and aesthetics with personal relationships.