My recommendation is based on the age of the reader.
The book was written for a much younger audience. I had not seen the movies that were referenced in the book. So I could not really understand what she was writing about. The author did have some funny scenes, but they meant nothing to me. The younger members of the club loved it. The older women 50 and up couldn't relate. The book however was well written.

I found this a very enjoyable book, especially for summer reading. The setting was most pleasing for the season. The story and characters were well crafted and interesting with surprises to keep the book going.
The ending was wrapped up very quickly but pleasingly. I recommend this and found it most enjoyable.

I loved this book, as did everyone in the club. What I loved most is the author\'s ability to put so much information into such a small space without it becoming confusing or boring. It stayed fresh and terribly interesting, you were always waiting for something new. It was always relevant to the story. Another difficult task to master is adding a character for a very short time, (like Cora\'s birth mother) she fleshed her out perfectly and the reader got a perfect picture of what she was like and who that woman was and the world she lived in. She didn\'t go on and on her words were spare but she pegged her to at T. She was able to do that with all of her characters and situations. This is genius writing. Dickens could do it, Austen as well.
The author also nailed the feeling of whatever era she was describing and one never felt one had to \"mentally catch up\" with the surroundings as the book progressed. I have read many books that I have enjoyed but not one lately that was a well written and should be a classic.

Started out painfully slow and tedious. Turned out into a very good book with great character development.

Difficult to understand the main character and that was the key to the whole book.
Great for Book Club because there were varried opinions of the book.

I enjoyed the book as I enjoy history and archaeology.
Also the bit of romance. The character development was excellent . Well written and moved along well.
A very enjoyable read.

Thought the Writing was far too involved and self indulgent on the part of the author. Unnecessarily descriptive to the point of being showoff.
The story itself was good .

Too much like the Julia Roberts Movie of the Abused Wife who runs away, also like Practical Magic without the oomph! Fell flat in the end. won\\\'t bother with the last two in the series.

Counter balances the Christmas story of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and his family during the Civil war with the lives of some modern day people at the time of the war in Afghanistan. Very Touching, interesting going back and forth between the centuries and the personal stories. The Longfellow story is based on historical fact.