As It Was Written

This was very first-novel-esque. There were some very lovely moments, and also some sappy moments. In the acknowledgments, Hampton writes that the original was 800+ pages, but a firmer editorial could still have been useful, as I found myself skipping paragraphs towards the end. For similar subject matter with a more masterful treatment, I prefer Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni...but every novelist starts somewhere.