I found it irritating. I had a difficult time with the fact that it's a "historical fiction" and trying to sort out what may or may not have actually happened (but perhaps that's just a personal problem). The author would add details or random things into the story or at the end of a chapter that you thought would have significance at some point, but nothing ever came of any of them. I got about 2/3 of the way through and couldn't do it anymore, but from the book club discussion it sounds like the story line goes in a totally different direction right around the time I gave up. Obviously I'm in the minority not liking it, but it just wasn't for me.