I preferred Possession over this book. I didn’t like the child abuse subplot, not really sure what that added to the story. Byatt always writes very well researched books, and you feel this is what life was like back then. The most interesting point was the parents who seemed the most uptight and concerned with appearances were the ones most able to accept the children for who they were. The free-spirit parents were most concerned with their children ending up as they wanted them, for those they could be bothered paying attention too. In the end it was the uptight parents who had the richest home life and relationships with all the children.

sprawling, overwhelming, & compelling. reminiscent of books I loved as a kid - about families, storytelling, children growing up, & the collision of world events with private lives. too many characters and narrative threads, but woven together skillfully.

(if you require content warnings for anything in particular, I suggest looking them up for this book, as it contains many commonly warned-for topics)

I found this book quite addictive, with lots of mystery and twists. I liked the intertwining families, and I grew attached to the characters as they changed over time. I felt like it really did capture an era and it raised many issues of the time, albeit sweepingly. Some of the descriptive passages were perhaps a little tedious, and some of the 'story' sections a little too lengthy, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I really wanted to like this book. Byatt's writing is excellent as always, but the book is so dark that it really affected my moods. I need to go read something silly now.

A very rich book, too rich perhaps in detail about the period it describes, but when England interests you and you want to read about a part of its history together with an at times heartbreaking story this is a novel that you will like.

Parts of this were brilliant, and the writing was true to the period, but I just did not feel absorbed by it the way I wanted to.

Masterful storytelling.

A bit slow at the beginning (though I loved the whole world she builds up as it's my favourite period in European cultural history), but it's like a slow wave building until it crashes.

It helped me understand the radical movements happening in the early 20th century and how they connected to the arts. Also another example of the German/English connection (see Howards End). I've always been curious about how the non-mainstream folks lived (Morris et al., the Fabians, people who wore reform dress, Pre-Raphaelite painters and their circle, Bloomsbury), so here was a wonderful portrayal of that life.

It's a whopper and I looked forward to reading it every night.

Byatt continues to be a favourite author of mine.

I am having a very difficult time getting into this book. I'm only a few chapters in and trying to keep all the characters straight and understand the historical context is making it troublesome to read. I'll persevere, but only because bookclub is this Tuesday! Doubtful that I will be able to finish it in time, unfortunately.

Although I really enjoyed this book I would have to say that devoting hours of my time and getting to page 500 and something just to have everyone (or most everyone) DIE was not what I expected. Seriously, no happy endings for anyone? Ah, well. Overall though the book was very detailed and I loved the stories within the story.

Really well written and interesting perspective on the young socialist and anarchist movements of Europe. I especially love the descriptions of how violent and terrorist the British suffragettes became in their pursuit of the vote, not something generally discussed in public school history courses.