Subject matter was grim and unappealing, but was a real representation of the grim and unappealing reality of life for women during this period of time in America. Simply awful. 

A yuck story of misery and hopelessness told by an addictive storyteller. An utterly unlikeable reality, yet somehow, Bohjalian brings hope and redemption into the pages—shines a light onto the dim lives of these powerless women. Told in as real-to-life voice as possible, using language the religiously staunch earliest pilgrims would have employed— and despite the disgust this story incited in me, I couldn’t put it down.