" The setting of this novel is superb. It is Paris during the renovation of 1853-1870 when a major portion of the medieval city was destroyed by the order of Napoleon III to make way for new and modern boulevards, buildings, water and sewer...and much more. I was not familiar with this Parisian event and spent several hours researching it. In my mind, this is always a good outcome for a novel...driving the reader to develop some interest piqued by the work of fiction. The story line itself, a refusal by a property owner to give up possession of her property to the state, promises much tension and confrontation. But Tatiana de Rosnay falls short of my expectation. The first third of the book slogs along as Madame Rose writes a letter to her dead husband about the imminent destruction of his family home. Her ultimate goal of the letter is to tell Armand the dark secret she harbors, having confessed it to no one. It is the writing of the letter that fails to convince the reader of the intensity and passion Madame Rose must feel. Alexandrine, the florist, and Gilbert, the rag-picker, are incomplete major players who might have rescued the flagging exposition, but did not. Perhaps I expected too much of de Rosnay after Sarah's Key which riveted me from the beginning until the end. "
— Shirley, 2/9/2014