This is a morose, slow moving novel in which the writer feels the need to describe every action in slow motion. It is very heavy on "telling" rather than "showing," and there is a paucity of dialogue and an overabundance both of unsympathetic characters and descriptions of places. The author often shifts tense between past and present without indicating that it is happening and this makes for confusing reading. Guaranteed to put you to sleep should you have insomnia, what with its long paragraphs!