I feel like I need to say right off the bat that Mary Pope is a fantastic narrator for the audiobook version of this book. It was very clear which characters were which, and the accents didn’t feel cheesy or forced. I’d recommend the audiobook for Pope’s narration alone, if you choose to read this book.

As for the actual content of the work, I’m of two minds about it. None of the characters are wholly likeable, certainly not once the story has run its course. I could definitely feel my own biases coming into play at certain parts during the story, so it was hard for me to divorce my own life experiences from a lot of what is focused on. That being said, there was never a point where I said to myself, “These people are awful, I’m done with this,” so clearly Keane was able to keep my interest even when I wasn’t rooting for any character in particular.

The format and story type is one I love, and if you too are a fan of family sagas, this does not disappoint in that regard. The jumps in time can be extreme, spanning decades, but I was always able to figure out pretty quickly what was happening and when, so that wasn’t an issue for me. It actually kept me on my toes a little, which I appreciate – readers don’t need the author to hold our hands to figure out what they’re doing, and I think it would have made the transitions worse if Keane had done otherwise.

Ultimately, I think this one just hit a little too close to home for me, ironically – there’s a lot here that is also in my family history, and I think that made me a little defensive and guarded seeing it laid out in another family’s saga. So maybe it’s a good thing I gave this a read. Maybe it’s not. Either way, I’m glad I did.