I wanted to like this book, but the truth is, it just bored me. I couldn't see the point of it. It didn't seem to be about anything. I know some people might say I've missed the point of it or it's about a place and a moment in time, but I just look at all the praise it's garnered and wonder if they're talking about a different book. It's very well-written but it's just too sterile, too clinical. I never really felt anything about any of the characters and some of them I couldn't see the point of at all, most particularly the storyline involving Rotherham and Hess. It just didn't seem to do anything for the book and the link to Esther and Karsten's story was tenuous in the extreme.