"That circumspection was literal: she looked around her as she spoke, as if her lady might somehow be here or crouching near a communicating fireplace elsewhere, as if all London’s hearths were interconnected to spy upon domestics."

That is worthy of Rowling. The writing here is potent, nuanced, layered and complex. The examination of the events portrayed is most detailed, and the introspection is deftly-done and solid.

"Memories are injected after the fact with subsequent wisdom. Their younger selves, whom we never knew, suddenly appear in our looking glasses, the inconceivable people they were before they conceived us. "

There's a beauty to the writing, although it's perhaps a touch more metaphysical than I'm used to. and yet, for all that it's hard going and requires a level of concentration above your average story, it's worth the effort because of the rich story and even richer characters. It's enthralling, haunting, disturbing on a level hard to qualify. A captivating, mesmerizing yarn.