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Well, I felt like I was watching an episode of Dr. Thorne, complete with hearing/seeing Julian Fellows sitting in an arm chair by a fire doing his narration before and after each episode of the show. It was definitely reminiscent of Downton Abbey, though the servants skewed more towards Thomas than Anna and Bates and Carson.

The mystery isn't a mystery to the reader and I kept wondering how it would have changed the book for me if it had been. The middle third or so drags on, but the end speeds up quite nicely.

Thanks to Julian Fellowes this was a very entertaining historical fiction. In true Fellowes’ tradition this was an excellent read laced with intrigue, history and romance; great ingredients for a fireside read . I am looking forward to the series.

A perfect beach read for the Downton Abbey crowd.

f2f bookclub book from last month - not my thing at all.

I liked the book, and enjoyed reading it. Julian Fellowes certainly knows how to tell a good story. But he trotted out so many standard tropes for historical romantic fiction that it seemed like a book I had already read before.

Lost interest about a 1/3 of the way through. I didn't really find the characters compelling enough.
relaxing slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Nothing spectacular but very Downton-y (a positive in my book). It was also too long and poorly edited with many noticeable typos. It’s being made into a television series which I will 100% be watching when it comes out.

Was fun to read before going to London

Sufficiently amusing to keep me occupied from CLT to SFO.