Helpful Score: 3
This book was recommended to me since the author has a similar writing style to my favorite Robert Goddard. It was true and I was entranced with this book. I enjoyed it very much. There were 3 narrators telling their stories going backwards in time. It is hard to describe but the story starts in the 1950's for a brief time describing the funeral for a lady who was very well known. One of the gentlemen who attended started the book with his memories of the lady and when he knew her in the 1910's, before the first World War. During that time, he learned of a guy who was a secret agent for the British government. That guy was the 2nd narrator. He had worked with and knew well the husband of the well known lady. The husband narrated the last portion of the book as his story took off in the late 1860's. A lot of time was covered but this is my favorite time of history and loved the British angles as well as the spies. A very involving book and it took me almost a month to get through it. But it was definitely time well spent.
Helpful Score: 1
Learned a good bit about the international [i.e. European] financial market and how economics effect the political scene. Historical fiction is my favorite genre and in another author's hands, this tale could have been drudgery given the subject matter. But, Iain Pears took a creative approach to storytelling and utilized 3 POVs. For this alone I applaud him because the tale was complex enough to allow it.
Helpful Score: 1
This book is complex and fascinating. It took me several weeks to read it - and I normally read a book in two nights. That said, it was a fascinating book and worth the extra time to get into it. Very good!
