In general, it was a good read. It held your attention - a real page turner. (Even Bruce liked it!) There were both pluses and minuses for the structure, of the story of the book going backwards as Hannah's enveloping tale moved forward. Same for the love story part of it. But it was well-researched and interesting, and gave you a good feel for the time period of each of the stories. (Although I'm still mad at Brooks for placing 15th century Seville under Muslim control.)