This is an illustrated novel, with drawings on every page by Phil Day, who contributes dense and lively art, alternately fluid and scratchy. Sometimes he illustrates the plot; other times he extends and shadows it. This is only the first of the book’s conceits. It is an update of Aldous Huxley’s Crome Yellow (1921). The plot centres on Phil Day – a young writer mysteriously named after the illustrator of this book – and Anna, daughter of the aforementioned millionaires. Phil, vying for Anna’s affections, is pitted against suitors with varying artistic philosophies. In his introduction, Davies calls his book a ‘novel of ideas’; these ideas are strongest when linked closely with the plotline. For instance, Phil observes that Anna might be limited by her wealth. Being ‘defined by money and her relationship to others’ has the advantage of automatic self-definition, but definition itself can be a stricture.

From such observations, a macro-argument becomes evident: the book is about the tensions between art and commerce, with a climactic plot point centred on a choice that binds these cultures. Both wealth and art can be transformative; what is less sure is the willingness of humans to be transformed.

Ultimately, Crow Mellow is a grab bag of ideas, often interesting, sometimes very successful. It can be uneven, but we need more books like it – ambitious, unruly, and utterly strange.