I went into this book with such high hopes and I was a little concerned at the beginning — it felt too slow and it didn't grab me — but at some point I got immersed in it and came to the realisation that it was just so delightful and the writing wonderful.

The characters, the setting, the emotion, the sprinkles of humour, the history, the life lessons, and more!

A beautiful book!

(Warning: The book features spoilers for Anna Karenina, The Brothers Karamazov, and the film Casablanca. You'll get even more out of the book if you're familiar with the latter!)