A great little book, with an expertly crafted bunch of characters. Full of fascinating mixtures of philosophy, theology and magic, this book holds the interest right up to the sadly rushed ending.

This fantastic giant read, is well worth the effort it may require to finish it. It is a beautifully well written book which clearly went on to influence the writers of the next century (Dickens, Austen etc.). It is full of varied and wonderful characters, who are often hilarious. The only problem is that Burney fills her novel with so many characters that you may forget who some of them are, and sadly many of them just disappear midway through the novel never to be mentioned again. This is a small complaint on an otherwise superb novel.