This is a book for people who are interested in truly hunkering down with a dense story that is packed with characters and archaic jargon. It took me a solid month to get through it. I paused every few chapters to go through vocabulary words and their obscure definitions, some of which no amount of googling led me to an answer.

This novel is also for anyone looking for truly realistic historical fiction. It's like if a history textbook had characters in it. Though it may seem dry—and at times it could be—each character is truly unique and richly developed. You can tell that the author deeply cares about each and every one of them, whether their “good” or “bad.” None of them are one-note. Not even the children. You will more than likely become attached to at least one of them as you read along!

This novel is quite the sweeping epic, and it is entrenched in the author's belief that there is nothing more important and/or precious than human connection. I dinged a star because it’s often overwrought, and needing to constantly look up words interrupted my reading flow.