While I loved the ending, I was so very sad for it to be over. It is impossible not to love the characters in this book. They are amazing, kindhearted people, and you read all about how they took care of each other during the war, and you find out how the literary society changed their lives. You have a man who used to be a drunk who now reads and quotes Seneca regularly. And you have a bunch of people who used to be strangers and are now as close as a family, talking about literature in insightful and often poetic ways, not afraid to be honest with each other. I love it, and I will buy it as soon as I can get my hands on a copy (I may even buy a hardcover simply because I know it'll last through more readings that way).