Oh absolutely: the relationship between Uncle Philip and Melanie just oozes with twisted sexuality. But I never throught he luster after her. That spectacle he puts on where he forces her to play Leda being raped by the Zeus swan shows he just has an inner need to turn people into puppets so he can control them. It's all very asexual, I think;or maybe he just gets off after he's turned people into one of his precious puppets. This novel is all kinds of messed up. On the other hand, I thought Melanie's relationship with Finn was beautiful; the way she initially dislikes him but slowly comes to love him seemed to real to me.