Although I very much enjoyed reading this book, at times, I found it very hard going and an uncomfortable read. I didn't like the abusive (mentally) relationship that Rebecca and her husband Alexander had, Mr Badcock and his penchant for under age girls, Alexander's strange sexuall desires and the deep and dark effects of the new drug Heroin had on it's victims. It's scary to think that although this is a story and loosely based on a gentleman who did indeed create Heroin, that all the other relationships and parts of the story actually happened in real life, and to some extent still happen now. The book touches on women's oppression and the lack of rights they had back in the day, how women were meant to be seen and not heard. Alexander used his wife and other women as test subjects on the new drug Heroin, keeping them in a submissive state, so that these women were then able to be manipulated into doing whatever a man would so desire. Overall this is a good read, quite harrowing at times, I nearly put it down and didn't go back to it! But I'm glad I did, and like most books it ended with a happy ending.