This is one of those times I really wish Goodreads allowed half stars, because this was at least 3 1/2 stars for me, but not quite 4. I loved Waters' dense but lyrical prose, her well-developed characters, and the amount of research that obviously went into crafting this historical novel. I was less thrilled with the shift that took place about 2/3 into the book. Without spoiling anything, it went from being primarily a character driven romance to a story that focused on a specific event (which, in all fairness, did shed more light on the characters, but still didn't do it for me). My dislike of this tonal shift probably had more to do with me than with the book (I was in a weird and angsty mood when I read it, and the story was so tense that it made me nervous), so there's a very good chance that I would have loved it if I read it at a different time. If there's one thing I've learned about Reader's Advisory, it's that enjoyment of a book depends as much on the reader's state of mind as it does on they book itself. As it was, I liked it very much, but it just wasn't the right book for me at the right time. I'll definitely check out more books by Sarah Waters, and I like to think that I'll revisit this one at a later date.