I am continually impressed with Alice Hoffman's lyrical prose. Her novels just flow beautifully. The imagery in this and its prequel, "Green Angel", will stick with me for a long, long time. This is definitely a quick read, so it doesn't require a large investment of time. It also is not necessary to have read the first book, though her journey seems more important if you have. I love this beautiful book and will surely read it again sometime.