y’all, what the hell… slowest book I’ve ever read with an extremely dissatisfying ending. maud and roland’s story was captivating, but dragged out unnecessarily. and the innumerable references to well-known historical writers (john donne is one my absolute favourite metaphysical poets, so I was very happy to see him again) shows the author took this chance to kind of… brag about her knowledge. I think that’s how I would phrase it.

it reads more like an extremely long research article than the fictional work of art I was hoping it to be. disappointed and glad to have finished it.