The best way I can think to describe this book is that it feels a little like when you can remember a dream clearly until you try to think about something specific in it, and then it all disappears from your mind. I feel like I know what this book was about, and I can see it clearly in front of me, until I try to fully form a coherent thought on it, and it all starts to slip away. That could be because the author hasn't quite nailed what she was trying to do, or, far more likely, it's just gone slightly above my head and I can't quite put all the pieces together. It's definitely a book that makes me think I need to read other people's thoughts about, and find the pieces I'm missing so I can pull it all together properly. 

As it is, I was very invested in all the characters, and it is essentially a story about family, grief, loss, and the inherited pain we carry with us through life. Elements of magical realism tie multiple timelines and characters together towards the end, and although that's not something I usually love in book, it's used very well here, and I think is what elevates the whole thing to being more than "just" a family drama. The ghosts of history weigh heavy on all these characters, and on the places they inhabit.