This book was fantastic from start to finish. The prose was excellent, and super immersive! All the themes, while heavy, were handled with a lot of nuance and depth. This is probably the best historical fiction I’ve ever read.

While it was overall devastating and tragic, it didn’t feel like I was wading my way through misery. There was such a masterful balance of the good times AND the bad times, but neither overstayed their welcome in a way that would have made me put down the book. I think in all tragic stories (and also happy ones) there needs to be a balance between the misery and actual happiness, so that when the bad times come, the good times are remembered even sweeter.

If you haven’t read this book and you think you might enjoy it, please go and read it!!! If you have any interest in the premise I think you’ll love it. 🥰

If you’ve read the book and want hear about some other books I’d recommend as being in the same category of “dark fiction that made me so sad, but also was amazing and life changing” here are my recommendations in no particular order:

Doctor Faustus by Thomas Mann In Memoriam by Alice Wynn Where Angels Fear to Tread by EM Forster Titus Groan and Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake