Hmmm... not an easy book to review. I loved the cover, it is simply beautiful. When I read the extract, I loved the story and was drawn in very quickly. I love books set in this period so this had the right ingredients to be a great read. I loved the Portugal setting as that was unusual and it allowed me to learn a bit more about war times in a country that I thought was pretty much neutral. Elisabeth is certainly an intriguing character but it took me ages to finish this book. I kept on putting it down and picking it up again as I was determined to finish it. Unfortunately, the whole book reads more like a sequel to something. I even went on to google whether perhaps it was a sequel. It is not. It had some great moments when I just had to keep on reading and many moments where I felt I was not going to finish this book. First few and last few chapters were great. Not so many good ones in between. Not sure I will pick up the sequel but at the same time curious as to what happens with Eduard. Really strange book overall.