Being very generous with my rating here because I don't think the writing is bad, there were elements to the story I did like, and I think people who like contemporary sad girl millennial books might really enjoy this despite it being historical fiction. I personally hated the main character Cecilia, but it seems like the book expected me to love her. It seems like I was supposed to find her passionate and brave, but instead I found her to be selfish and insensitive. 

She is incredibly self centered and fans the flames (haha) of whatever inner turmoil she's experiencing to the point that she can't function or manage her basic needs and has to rely on others, and yet blames these other people at every turn for any decision they make that isn't exactly what she wants. The book implies that Cecilia's sister (Margaret, I think) who is in an unhappy and difficult marriage, struggling with fertility issues, and trying to keep her sister alive and safe, is an irredeemable person undeserving of pity even when she sincerely apologizes in both actions and words for her failures.

Cecilia acts like marrying an incredibly kind and generous man with an adorable dog who wants nothing but friendship from her and who will allow her to live her life in comfort and however she wants (including having a lover!) is some big sacrifice, and the book seems to agree? It takes nothing less than

The Great Fire of London

for Cecilia to attempt to do anything for another person, and even after that she berates her working class, marginalized,

homeless

lover for the crime of

not waking up next to her in her upper class fiancé's house??!?

  I feel sorry for the poor flower seller who had to deal with Cecilia's antics multiple times without Cecilia ever bothering to buy a flower from her. 

David, the other POV character, is much easier to understand and sympathize with. Throughout the book he is living the reality of surviving in London as a working class Jewish doctor from a foreign country, grieving multiple losses, and trying to do the best he can by his family, friends, and patients. The book at times seems to imply that his caution and realism are somehow bad things compared to Cecilia's blind recklessness?

The audiobook narrators did a good job. David and some of the other supporting characters were great. I know there is a market for characters like Cecilia, but I found her insufferable and the way the book seemed to disagree with me on that made for a frustrating reading experience.