I’ve read several of Shreve’s books; this one was just so-so. It begins in turn of the century New England (meaning from 1899 to 1900) and I really did not care one iota for the primary character, Professor Nicholas Van Tassle. He came off like a pompous baboon. I suppose that was what Shreve wanted “us” to feel since the story line was in essence how Van Tassle falls in love with a lovely woman named Etna Bliss (you can imagine the play on words that kept going on with that last name) who really doesn’t love him at all but, due to her “circumstances”, she decides marrying him is better than the alternative of caring for her rich sister and conceited brother in law’s children. Van Tassle tells the story in flash backs in such a way that throughout the entire book you find yourself wondering if at some point he killed his wife. I won’t spoil the ending by saying one way or the other; but, I probably wouldn’t bother with this book. If you want to read something by Shreve, try “Fortune’s Rocks” or “The Weight of Water” (which was made into a movie with Sean Penn).
(Written in 2007).