The second part is better

Oh my goodness.
So, like many of the reviewers here, I got bogged down in the Lotto part. I was only finishing just because I had come so far. But, the Mathilde part. Oh.my.gosh. Stunning, fascinating, heartbreaking. She is a thousand times more interesting as a character. Pity we have to slog through the first part, but that’s the only way the second makes sense.
Taken together the parts of the book show how different people’s perceptions are, even in a marriage, and also how we are the star in our own stories, but supporting players in everyone else’s.