What readers think of The Book of V., plus links to write your own review.

This book is brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Written by Anna Solomon, it is the story of three women from vastly different times, and when their separate stories merge into one, it is creative genius.

The three stories:
• Lily: It's 2016, and Lily and Adam and their daughters Rosie and June live in a New York City rental apartment. Lily is 46. She has given up her dreams of becoming a writer to be a stay-at-home mom, but she is horribly conflicted about it. Her inner turmoil only becomes more tumultuous when she develops a crush on a friend's husband.

• Vee: It's the early 1970s in Washington, D.C. Vee is married to Alex, a U.S. senator from Rhode Island. Alex enjoys rough sex, but nothing prepares Vee for the shocking and shameful request Alex makes of her during a party they host—and her response changes absolutely everything in her life.

• Esther: It's about 475 years before the birth of Christ, and Esther, a poor Hebrew living in tents in Persia, is chosen from dozens of women to replace the banished queen Vashti. While the story of how Esther saved her people is well known, the author sketches out a stunningly imaginative backstory that weaves a uniting thread through the stories of Lily, Vee, and Esther.

This is a fierce and smart book. The characters are vividly drawn, the multilayered plot is riveting, and the underlying message about the power of women in a world where they are dominated by men is provocative and profound.