As vacation started this summer I wanted a different sort of read. I have read and enjoyed almost all of Rutherfurd's other novels (I enjoy historical fiction) so when I found this one I decided it was a good summer read. I forgot how large these novels were and how long they can take to read.
This is different from other epic historical novels. Often the novel starts in the past and follows forward in chronological fashion. This one spends much of it's time in the era fro 1870 onward with jumps back in time to earlier periods as we learn more of the back story of the families we are watching in the stories of the end of the 19th century to the 1960's.
I think I prefer the strictly chronological structure. It was a bit easier to follow who was who and the inter-relations that way. I also found it interesting that while there were many references to the Revolution and the Napoleonic era the novel itself spent very little time in the former and none in the latter. Still it was very enjoyable and a nice break from the complicated reality that has been 2020.
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