This book had a very interesting way of telling two stories at the same time. The first story, set in present day tells of two graduate students researching the love story of two 19th-century poets--the second story. The modern day story was always told directly through third person narrative, but the story of the 19th century poets was told through letters, poems, journal entries, conjecture from the modern characters, and occasional narrative. Both stories were very interesting for me, but I have to admit that I got a little bogged down during the longer poem and letter interludes. The variation in the story-telling style, though, kept me on my toes and kept me interested.
The modern day characters in this book were intricate and well developed. They weren't perfect and that made them easier to connect with. The 19th century characters were a bit harder to connect with because I didn't always understand what motivated them.
I enjoyed many of the ideas presented in this book and I enjoyed the language used although it made for a read that wasn’t an easy one. The vocabulary kept me reaching for my dictionary on a fairly regular basis. My favorite part of the book, though, is the ending. Is it happy? Is it sad? It's hard to say, but it's definitely unexpected.
