I was first interested in this book after hearing the author speak about it on NPR. It took me several years to get around to reading it. The idea is great! I love that he took old letter and added his own research to fleash out the details. It offers an interesting look at love, sex, marriage and social standards in the mid-1750s, as well as a look at a global elite. This said, I do feel the book falls short of what it could have been. It seems to just end. And, I think the author would have done better to make it a highly accurate historical novel. This would have allowed him to draw a better picture of the story rather than simply presenting the "facts" of what happened. Interesting, but not sure its worth the read.