This book reminded me of a few other novels: some of Sarah Waters' Victorian outings (Fingersmith, Tipping the Velvet,and Tracy Chevalier's novel about English suffragettes, Falling Angels. A quick and easy read although if you are even 1% feminist you will want to scream at the horrific treatment of women under the law at this time, while also wanting to smack Fido silly for being so manipulated by Helen. It feels like Donoghue goes out of her way to make Helen, undoubtedly the victim in this story, as odious as possible, which is a little discomforting: Soo...what? She "deserved" it?