Reynolds' book was engaging and passionate, about an engaging and passionate topic. When I recently read Uncle Tom's Cabin, I both thought I was reading it for the first time, and I was also surprised that so many of the scenes were so familiar. Reynolds' book helped me realize how very much Stowe's novel was popularized in various forms, over time. I must have seen one of them as a child. But, of course, Reynolds is also very interesting on Stowe's background, which I wondered about as I read the novel, and on the society in which she lived.