Anita Shreve's hands are very safe hands and this, arguably her most commercially successful novel, is a book you know is going to go somewhere, while also making lots of meaningful stops on the way. As it happened, I saw the main destination before reaching it (I am nosey and inquisitive and annoying like that) but I still enjoyed the ride, but I have to be honest and say I skipped more than a few pages just to hurry things along at times.