Tony

Powerful writing. I found it to be riveting.

Same content as the graphic novel omnibus. However, so much more detailed. This story filled in a lot of gaps in the storyline. Plus it was still a compelling story even though I knew what was going to happen.

Traveled to Santa Fe NM via train and picked this book up. Am looking forward to learning more. Saw several of the buildings pictured from my window.

Surprisingly well-written and a really engaging story.

Having long been a fan of Violet Trefusis, I enjoyed the author's passion for his subject. Of particular interest were the insights and details provided of the Violet-Vita story which are not commonly known. I particularly enjoyed the family trees at the end of the book (which I often referred to while reading the book) and the reading list.

Vintage clothing with a story to tell, a psychic who experiences the story, family secrets and a mystery to boot. What could be better?

A wonderful book with many color illustrations. I particularly enjoyed the essays about each house detailing the origins of its construction, significant details about the structure and its life up to the the present day.

Excellent book! Compelling story and well-written. I literally picked it up and could not put it down - to my detriment. I finished it at 2am this morning! Highly recommended.

Well that was one of the stranger things I have read in a long time.

Started with the audiobook but scrapped that quickly when I discovered that Marguerite Gavin, reader of the previous books, had been replaced. Not being able to take a different voice for the characters, I read this one in print. Thank goodness Marguerite returns to reading the remainder of the series!

RIVETING!! Best book for an airplane journey I have ever found. Keeps me completely distracted during the flight so I do not notice the little bumps and dips.

I started this book with high hopes looking forward to hearing interesting tidbits about America from a British perspective. Perhaps that is what I got? However, I could not get past the tone of the book which was too superior and overarching. Perhaps the America that he presents is not the one in which I live? A personal gripe is that he bypassed my home state of Ohio entirely. This one goes into the category of ‘did-not-finish'. I looked at the pictures and read a bit of the text before realizing that there was nothing for me in this book.

I am fascinated by Istanbul and harbor a desire to visit some day. In the meantime I content myself with reading accounts of the place. This one is particularly poignant and melancholy. While the author cites many interesting works, a bibliography at the end is missing. Many black and white photographs of the eras described (1950s to 1960s) illustrate the city as it was then.

I have a thing where I read the first few pages of all the books I get from the library at a time to get a sense for which one calls to be read next. Sometimes I feel like the book is not to my liking. So to give it another chance before discarding, I jump to the end to read the last chapter.

So glad I did in this case because I loved the ending of this book and so knew I had to start over at the beginning. I still struggled with the opening chapter but now had some context for the characters which helped.

From there I finished the book within a day. Such wonderful world building and such a sense of belonging for those of us who feel at times out of place in this world of ours.

TL:DR If the opening does not pull you in, read on a bit more to give it a bit more line to reel you in.