As someone wrote, reading this book is like inviting a whole cast of characters to come and live (and love) in your house for a few weeks. The nearest you can get to living history. And it's also a cracking read, so it is a shame that W&P is often invoked as a chore, the sort of book you need to be in prison to read. Admittedly, I read it when I was living on a remote island for a couple of years with no TV or internet, so perhaps isolation really does enrich the soul.