Damn, I really wanted to like this, because the material is so interesting. It was pretty absorbing, and then it seemed to get slower and slower and more oppressive, and then I got to the end and there was no real twist--it was almost pure biography with some psychological illumination and concrete sensation filled in.

Also, the characters were almost unrelievedly depressing. None of the liveliness of the Victorian Age, with 100% of the stultifying atmosphere.

It's very good for what it is, I just wanted a whole lot more joy and invention. This just didn't live for me. And I'm the one who reads Victorian church novels for entertainment.