From the title and brief synopsis of this book I was expecting something completely different. This was the most depressing book I have read. I thought that the first half was bad and then it got worse. Not that the writing itself is bad, but the story just depressed me and it was extremely difficult for me to finish. Given the subject, it doesn't surprise me how harsh the living was for this family but rather than give me hope, it just mired me down and I was not able to enjoy the book at all. Knowing that this was based on the author's own child made it even sadder to me. I do not think I could read anything written by this author again.

I wanted to love this book but in the end I just liked it. I have read quite a few books lately about WWII and the aftermath and the premis of the book interested me. The book is from the view of Lily, the imposter, and her daughter, Ruth. I felt like the husband and daughter did not really want to find out about Lily or what happened to her and that part was slow for me. Like I said, the book was OK but I have read much more compelling novels about this time period so it would be difficult for me to recommend this one over others.

I don't consider myself a prude, but it does bother me when an author uses foul language so freely in his books, as if he cannot come up with anything better to say to describe the situation. That being said, the book did have some interesting characters, especially the women who seemed to me the strongest of the people in the story. I would have enjoyed more history of Ireland as well as I have relatives from there and would like to know more about it. I did not consider this book as 'suspense' but it was interesting once you got past the constant use of one particular word and phrase.