Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I love historical fiction; I really do. I was excited to read this book, but it was drudgery from beginning to end. I am still puzzled that so many people gave this book a five-star rating. This book is terribly written, with flat, undeveloped characters, absurd plot twists (rape! murder! lies! intrigue! incest! child abuse!), and unbelievable resolutions which feel like another vehicle to speed along the very predictable, very drawn out, but paper-thin plot. This novel is supposedly set in the late 18th century, but there is little in the book that shapes the time or place; some of the dialogue feels like it's right out of a soap opera. Too much happens; too much of it is negative; there are too many tragedies. None of the politics of the time (after all, the Revolutionary War just occurred) are mentioned. There is little that moors the reader in the historical period of the time. And, oh, yes, let's not forget the sloppy ending, which is supposed to resonate with bittersweet optimism but actually had me laughing out loud at its absurdity. I skimmed the last 30 or so pages because I just wanted to have this book done with. A huge thumbs down from me.