This was an enjoyable book on the whole, this was the first book I've read in the Ration Book series and it certainly works as a standalone book. The one gripe I'd have is that there were sooooo many characters in it! Queenie had 8 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren, and most of them had partners - I frequently lost track of who was related to who. Having said that, the author did tend to put in sentences like 'she looked at her brother' so there were reminders of the relationships there. There were a good number of side stories aside from the main plot, and I enjoyed the parallel timeline with the late 1800s, it fitted in well at certain times in the story. It was quite a descriptive book, which can sometimes feel a bit over the top, but it stayed just on the right side of wordy for me. The scene was set well and you could really imagine the streets where the characters lived - the author has obviously done her research.