When I started to read this, I found myself confused and misled by the prologue, which is repeated later in the book in the more natural sequence. After I finished the book and read the author's comments, I learned this scene came to her as if she were channeling these characters (followed by the rest of the story). I decided that she probably fought tooth and nail to keep it the opening for the book. I had to flip back to it after I started the next chapter, initially thinking that what Lavinia saw in the prologue had caused her memory loss. Finally looked at the dates and sorted that out.

At times, Lavinia seemed hopelessly naive, almost to the point of the too-stupid-to-live heroine who goes into the dark basement even though she knows that's where the monster will likely be.

The ending was a mix of satisfying and unsatisfying. Again, I expect it was done the way it was because the author felt she was telling a "real" story. She does state in the author's notes that whenever she tried to change a disturbing aspect of the story, the story stopped. However (SPOILER ALERT)after showing us Lavinia and Will's mutual attraction and then showing us that his wife was probably developing eclampsia, I was disappointed when no further mention was made of Lucy's fate or of Will in the story wrap-up, except that he apparently helped with the reconstruction of Tall Oaks.

Despite these frustrations, I found this to be powerful story-telling. The book aroused in me strong feelings of frustration and anger at the way of life being portrayed.. a sign the author did her job and then some.