Surprised not to enjoy this s I liked Birdsong and really enjoyed Charlotte Gray. My overwhelming feeling, on finishing the book this morning, was relief that the characters were out of my life.

In my opinion the purple prose meandered unchecked for far too long, the navel gazing spelt out emotions that would have been more powerful left to emerge from the narrative, and in the end it was hard to have much sympathy for anyone. Thank god it's over.