A book for the bath

I don't know why more people don't own baths, or take them.

Baths are the business. The problem, though, is not which cocktail to take in with you, or even how long to loll about.

The problem is which book to take in.

Bath books need to be a bit like airport novels: easy to read, with plenty of break points, but well written, engaging, entertaining, intriguing.

Recently, I solved this dilemma with a little number I bought earlier in the year, at City Lights.

Ladies of the Field is a delight. Others of my acquaintance were disappointed by the lack of backstory it contains, and the broad brushstroke approach to what could most certainly have been piercing, true-to-life encounters with dead pioneers of the field.

And to be fair, the book most definitely tends more toward feminist yarns than historically accurate biography, and I'd have to describe the chapters as "vignettes" of Victorian lady archaeologists. If you're hungry for facts, dates and times, this isn't the book for you.

If, however, you're more interested in being inspired by ripping tales of women who dug shit up in "olden" times, before motorised transport, Thinsulate or malaria drugs, and you want to read about it all in the bath, then trust me: this is the book for you.