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Ruth Bonetti | 2/10/2014
" One of my all-time top books. It kept me engrossed on a long international flight - I wanted the book to go on forever. The psychological complexity of characters made me mean to reread it to savour and digest. "
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Larry | 1/2/2014
" Pure magic! Meaty in style and characterization! The characters are so alive and real with the villains being so villainous, i didn't wish it to end! You wont regret it ! "
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Deb | 12/27/2013
" True to form, Rose Tremain does it again. Great characterizations and insight into the human soul. What makes us tick. "
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Marvin | 12/24/2013
" A complex story set at the 17th-century Danish court. About 6 different story lines witness to the varieties of ways to love and imagine worlds outside the limitations of our existing worlds (and the relationship between them). "
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Nadine | 12/21/2013
" Beautiful, subtle historical novel. The period is evoked through character and plot, not description. The kind of novel that gets better and better the more I think about it. "
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Bev | 12/10/2013
" Loved this book. Couldn't wait to return to it every evening! The historical setting was also good. "
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Laurie | 12/5/2013
" beautifully written, although a bit frustrating to have all the separate threads of the story to follow...even though they come together satisfactorily at the end "
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Lisa | 12/3/2013
" My husband and I read this book out loud to each other and that might have made it even more enjoyable than it would have been otherwise. "
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Renee | 11/18/2013
" A little drawn out but I enjoyed the time period. "
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Sue | 10/13/2013
" I liked the historical setting of this novel and it's large themes. "
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Vicki | 10/10/2013
" Couldn't get into it - didn't get any further than page 60ish. "
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Darlene | 9/17/2013
" One of my favs of all time. "
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Kathy Eich | 9/12/2013
" Masterfully written, but not perfectly accurate. It is rich in characters that go through a cathartic experience to transmute their fears, hopes and dreams using philosophy, sound and silence. It's not perfect, but it is an awesome tale, and excellently written. "
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Ginni | 8/4/2013
" Set in 17th century Denmark in the court of King Christian lV, this is a witty and extravagant tale of the King, his consort and and English musician - love, lust and eccentricity. "
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Chantal | 3/21/2013
" Loved this book. Unusual but addictive historical fiction. "
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Cheryl | 1/13/2013
" This book was a bit hard to follow at first, but once I got into it, I loved it! Our book club gave it mixed reviews. "
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Maureen & Family | 11/19/2012
" A wonderfully woven tapestry of differnt lives weaved together. Years later, I still think about these characters. "
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Vivien | 3/29/2012
" Totally charming and entertaining -- I especially enjoyed King Christian of Denmark and his delightfully loopy estranged wife Kirstin Munk. I did weary of the constant present tense, and some of the musical bits seemed unrealistic. "
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Jennyreadsexcessively | 1/17/2012
" exquisite historical fiction, numerous storylines encircle the central characters-a lutenist plays at court of Denmark's King Christian IV in 17thC., engrossed by every character, themes of opposites:music/silence light/dark good/evil, loved this "
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James Metcalf | 9/8/2011
" I did really enjoy this book, although not as much as some of Tremain's others. Its characters are really well drawn, and it is interesting to get a view of a country of which not much has been written. "
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Patti Freeman | 7/23/2011
" What a great piece of historical fiction! Very original story. "
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Julie Burnett | 7/2/2011
" I enjoyed the way the author brought to life the importance of music's ability to heal the soul. Rose Tremain had a very enchanting way of pulling the reader into the character's lives and keeping the intrigue and tension going until the end. "
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Cheryl | 5/9/2011
" This book was a bit hard to follow at first, but once I got into it, I loved it! Our book club gave it mixed reviews.
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Jill | 3/12/2011
" Interesting historical novel set in Denmark, it's the story of several characters including King Christian, his wife consort Kristen, lutenist Peter Claire, mysterious Emilia who becomes Kristen's maid-in-waiting.
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Jennifer | 1/14/2011
" Loving this book. Full of interesting characters. Winner of the Whitbread Prize.
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Lisa | 11/28/2010
" My husband and I read this book out loud to each other and that might have made it even more enjoyable than it would have been otherwise.
"
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Laura | 11/6/2010
" Just arrived from USA through BM. Didn't like it so much, quite boring or I'm not in the right mood to read it now, who knows?
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Margaret | 10/26/2010
" Took me a while to get into this one, with the short vignettes about many characters, but overall found it compelling and thoughtful, very well written, and even learned some history
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Susan | 7/29/2010
" The narrative was all over the place. Perhaps Tremain pulls everything together at some point, but it's lack of any cohesion made me crazy and I only got about a quarter of it read. A disappointment.
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Jennyreadsexcessively | 6/12/2010
" exquisite historical fiction, numerous storylines encircle the central characters-a lutenist plays at court of Denmark's King Christian IV in 17thC., engrossed by every character, themes of opposites:music/silence light/dark good/evil, loved this
"
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Chantal | 1/26/2010
" Loved this book. Unusual but addictive historical fiction.
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Pam | 1/7/2010
" Whew. Did NOT like this - so much angst; so little depth to the characters to create this. ok, Got that its a 'inspired' fantansy but about page 100 it was just not worth hanging in there. Ugh.
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Laurie | 1/4/2010
" beautifully written, although a bit frustrating to have all the separate threads of the story to follow...even though they come together satisfactorily at the end
"
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Deb | 1/3/2010
" True to form, Rose Tremain does it again. Great characterizations and insight into the human soul. What makes us tick.
"
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