This book is beautifully written and impressively researched, sending the reader back to 70 C.E. to experience the lives of four women of Masada where a Jewish community held out for months against the Roman armies. Unfortunately it didn't always hold my interest, and it wasn't until the last 150 pages or so that I actively picked it up rather than read it merely to complete a book-club selection. It's just not my favorite type of novel. But that's on me. For those who enjoy historical fiction with top-notch writing, I highly recommend it. For readers who aren't interested in a lot of detail and long passages, they might not enjoy it as much.