I disagree with the previous reviewer, Annie Douglas. I have doubts she even read the book. Rather than rebut her, I will point out that the quality of the writing has been endorsed by Nobel Prize winner J.M Coetzee, Booker Prize winner Yann Martel, Khalid Hosseini and numerous other people who perhaps have a greater understanding of what constitutes good writing. I thought this was a magnificent book, one of the most sensitive and thought provoking novels I've ever read.