I wish I had known about the content warnings. I adored the century trilogy from Ken Follett and I like that his books feel like time traveling...but I stopped reading this one after the first half. There's rape at what feels like every second page.
The novel was first published in monthly instalments in a magazine. It feels a lot like Charles Dickens forced himself to write some pages each month to earn money. It's long, depressing and character development is almost non-existent. He was probably very releaved once he could finish writing the story, because after hundreds of pages filled exclusively with abuse, poverty and failure, we suddenly get the most unrealistic fairy tale ending.
Oh and while every character has a name - like Oliver twist -, the worst 'bad guy' character is referred to as 'the jew'.
I'm giving 2,5 stars because this book was Dickens' way to fight for children's rights, in a time when few people did. But I don't recommend.
The author is showing off with philosophical quotes and high-sounding metaphors, tricking you into believing this is a deep story. But it's not. It's almost ridiculous how flat this is and after a few pages you know where the whole story is going.
The idea was good though, wish he had made something better with it.
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