This book had a great concept. A young girl falls down an old mine shaft and as she decends the "voices" and lives of her ancestors emerge. I felt the book was too long and i found that i wanted to know more about the young girl. I will say though it was HUGE success for the book group with everyone but me and two other librarians enjoying the story.

Everyone seemed to like Ursula, under. Some liked the historical parts, others the contemporary story. We talked about mixed marriages, life after Sept. 11, precocious children. Some thoughts were that the women were heroines but most people had a bad end--which felt realistic due to the time in which they lived. Marjaata was a favorite. Rather long, but the author is covering a lot of time.