What a let down. I'd heard amazing things about Donoghue, but this did not live up to the hype. Although partially based on true events, the story was slow and quite dull. Helen was an annoying, spoilt little bitch and Fido was pathetic and naïve, even for the age in which he story is set. I couldn't relate to, or feel any emotion for the characters and couldn't have cared less what happened to them. A shame really as I'm a history geek and normally love these types of books.