I was so disappointed with this novel. The story, which should have made me feel so much emotion at this family's tragedy, left me cold. The characters were cardboard, not fully sketched out. The whole novel is one, long, drawn-out whine. There were also too many holes in …more the story line to be believable. I can understand David's wanting to give the child away in 1964, but: (1) how was it that it was so easy to get a gravesite for a child that didn't exist? (2) when Caroline tells David why she didn't put Phoebe into the institution because of its poor quality, it is not believable that he didn't take things into his own hands - to take the baby from her and either put the child into another institution, or decide to tell his wife and decide to raise the child. (3) there is never any discussion or mention of why David & Norah never have any other children - did they not want any more? could she not have any more children? Discussions about children - ALWAYS take place in every marriage and I think it's absence in the novel made the whole story of their marriage seem even more unrealistic. I wanted to like this novel, but I'm afraid it just irritated me. (less)