My Recommendation: This is a very slow starting book. The first 50-75 pages were a bit of a slog, but once things picked up it went a lot faster. Donoghue is a fantastic writer of historical fiction and I'm glad I read this one, but it's somewhere in the middle of the works I've read by her. Honestly, I would've preferred more focus on Fido and her story rather than Helen, but that's not where the drama was, so I get it.

My Response: A few months ago I went through my bookshelves and made a couple of piles of books. The only qualifications were that they had to be on my shelves for a while (this has been on my shelves since April 2014) and that they probably be a quick read. This one falls somewhere in the middle of the pack of Donoghue's books that I've read. It's definitely not as good as Room or Slammerkin, but I do think it's a little better than Hood, mostly because Donoghue really excels at historical fiction.

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