My interest with this novel really waxed and waned. I was very intrigued by Maeve's storyline of her being very sick and wanted more of that. I also liked the parallels with Stuart from the past story and the present.

This novel was excellently written. The language was beautiful and almost lyrical at parts. I loved how it focused so much on an artform (photography) too, as that felt fitting.

However, the gorgeous writing and the setting also made me keep forgetting that the newer storyline was taking place in the early 2000s (it read much more historical than that to me). This wasn't a major flaw, but it was a bit jarring at times when things like cell phones were mentioned and it just didn't feel like it fit.

There was some very sexy parts of this novel - the swimming, the forbidden desires and affairs, the photographs. Some of it was a bit racy and potentially triggering with underage girls but all in all I thought Healy handled those more illicit parts pretty well and without crossing the line too far.

It took me a bit to get into this (hence the waxing and waning), but once I did, I really enjoyed it.