Well, I'm torn.

I didn't not like it. I certainly read it quickly enough. I root for Wilfred, and for Grace. I care for their fate, as I care for several of the other characters. But something seemed to me to be lacking while I read it. Well, for one, one of the major plotlines is left a little too wide open for my taste. That's one problem I have. The other is less tangible. Because while, as I said, I root for Wilfred and Grace, I somehow fail to be touched very deeply. Several of the events should have been bringing tears to my eyes, but I was left dry-eyed throughout (and that is quite a feat these days, I'm a big sop). I find it hard to pinpoint, but for some reason it felt more as if I was reading a (wordy) plot synopsis rather than an actual novel. Does that make sense?

Maybe it's just me. Anyway, middling to good, I'd say, not brilliant. ( )

Worst book title ever... yet a very well done "small-scale" story. Quintessential fare from Europa Editions (my favorite publishing house). ( )

Huge, lengthy, wonderful descriptive writing. The story while believable is mediocre. ( )

I am torn with this one. It reminds me somewhat of Nancy Mitford, Muriel Spark, Barbara Pym, or Elizabeth Taylor, a brief interlude into normal lives where deep sadness, with a little black comedy, lurks under the everyday. Also a little reminiscent of "On the Black Hill" with its vivid evocation of rural Wales (except a very different part of Wales) around the same time period. It is basically a love triangle, with complications, between Wilfred Price and two women he dates, middle-class Grace and more free-spirited Flora.

I liked the writing quite a bit. It showed great compassion for all the characters and there were some very beautiful and emotional passages. It felt light and easy to read, which seemed to belie the very fraught subject matter. But there was a simplicity and forthrightness to the writing that made the deep emotions seem true and reasonable.

I think my hesitation lies with the book's central moral question, which is whether our own right to happiness trumps our obligations to other people, and how that plays out with the book's ending (spoilers ahead). You want Wilfred to follow his heart and find happiness, of course. He's a nice young man worth cheering for. But I think at a deeper level I was disappointed in him for abandoning Grace to what was clearly going to be a life of deprivation and misery, in order to gratify his own desires.

I am actually a little shocked at this response, because I tend to get frustrated with reviewers who say things like "these characters were all so awful that I hated the book" or "no nice people in this book, who wants to read about so many mean people." Yet here I am, basically saying that I wished Wilfred had been a nicer person. The problem was that the author invited the reader to embrace Wilfred's choice, rather than really making us wrestle with the moral implications. The ending was written pretty clearly as a happy one in which we were supposed to feel satisfied that Wilfred finally got what he wanted. Which I did, for about 30 seconds after closing the book. But there can be no happy ending in this situation. It would have been a stronger and truer book if Wilfred had at least seemed to wrestle with these questions for more than a page. ( )

Frothy light reading with one creepy plot twist. I don't hate it,and I read the whole thing in two sittings, but only recommend it for a quick read when you don't really want to think much. Not badly written, but not really special. ( )