This book is well written, extensively researched, and easy to read. It was sad. Sorrowful. An overwhelming sense of dread followed the characters. It is not, however, my personal cup of tea when it comes to historical fiction. It was an unhappy mix of extraordinary detail, researched to the minutia, with artistic liberties taken by the author. The dialogue must have been invented by the author. Probably most of the feelings. The more I write about it, the more I feel my complaint is frivolous and silly—historical fiction by definition must include a mix of truth and invention. I simply prefer inventing the entire character so you don’t have to ascribe thoughts and feelings to a real figure who had his own thoughts and feelings while living. I suppose my notion is that the author is bound to get something wrong, and how would you feel about becoming a character in a book that bares your innermost meditations—inaccurately?