I had been looking forward to reading this book and I was on the whole satisfied with it. I found it historically interesting and the writing style was pleasant and easy to follow. I enjoyed the setting of the novel and the descriptive writing style meant that it was simple to visualise what was happening. On the downside, I found that the plot was, in places, a little predictable and some of the characters were a little clichéd and one dimensional. Although I cared about the lead character, I was sometimes irritated by her foolishness and bad decision making. I also wondered how it was that Pierre was so instantly attracted to her when she was bald, painfully malnourished and covered with sores. It did stretch credulity a little at times. This aside, I found the story engaging and I was very much drawn into it. If I could give half stars, I would have reviewed it as a three and a half.