The front cover of the copy I read had a review on it saying 'the next Hilary Mantel' which I think skewed how much I enjoyed the book (in that I was expecting it to be better than it turned out to be). I think the story is such an interesting one and it plays out well. It's well written with some lovely descriptive moments. But I felt like I was reading it from a distance - I didn't take the characters into my heart and it didn't emotionally affect me in any way. So I would say it's a well-written read that is worth your time but is perhaps lacking a bit of depth.