Did you think the timeline of the story was too compressed?

I felt that not all of the stories were well fleshed out. The length of the boat trip, prison sentences, and then life after prison were all described, but not at length. The characters could have been better developed - the book needed to be longer, or somehow figure out a better way to include the 5 or 6 major characters, plus 3-4 different locales, plus set over several decades.

I can see Alaskareader's point. But if the author had followed her suggestions
it would have turned into a 600 page saga! Don't know if I would have been up for that!

Yes, I can see the point being made, too, but more detail of the boat trip, the time in prison, etc would have made for hard reading, and I think enough of those details were included to set the story and more would have made it too despairing and depressing. s it was, there was a hopeful air about their hard lives.

I would definitely been up for a longer book. It's a piece of history that deserves a longer treatment. Maybe the author wasn't up for it. Or maybe the publisher preferred a shorter treatment?

I wonder if this could have been 2 books, with a sequel?

I like Juliep's answer. Well said.

I think the book could have been richer and fuller with more detail. I could not help but wonder if the publisher required the book to be fewer than 300 pages. I think perhaps another book from a different point of view, Maybe the daughter, would be well received.

In theory, most books could be made longer--but is that necessary? I felt the timeline of this book was fine. Why overdo it?

I would not have wanted to be subjected to more details.

I did not find the story too compressed. I love books with great character development and this book had it. I thought that some of the passages about life on the prison ship were actually too detailed. I would have liked to learn more about Ruby when she was practicing medicine.

I think when books are too drawn out, it is easy to lose interest and frequently they become "history" books. A lot of facts and not enough story line.

I think the length of the book was fine -- I was always interested, didn't get bored or lost, and had plenty to think about.

I appreciated the location and date at the top of each "chapter". However, there were times throughout the book when I wasn't sure how much time had passed.
Aside from that, I felt like it was long enough for a rich plot, climax, and well-developed characters.

I did think it was too compressed. I think this type of book calls for a larger book - I felt like she just skimmed over what was happening. I would have preferred more of a saga. I was interested in what happened in that period of history but she really didn't make me want to learn more - something was missing for me.

I think a sequel would have been good. I learned so much from this book but would have liked to have had more.

I do, I believe it made the story not flow as well as it could have.