I thought this book would sit on my nightstand for months like "Pillars of the Earth". It wasn't intimidating at all. I like Magdalena and the Kuisl family is one worth rooting for. I'm not too impressed with Simon and I'll have to read the first installment of this series to learn why he should remain relevant. The religious portion of the novel was reminiscent of "The DaVinci Code" while still having it's own voice.

This book has persuaded me to put Bavaria on my bucket list of places to visit.