I generally really like well-researched historical fiction, and have been a big fan of Dorothy Dunnett and Philippa Gregory (though the latter takes a lot of liberties with history).  I was quite drawn into this book from the first sentence, and found the description of life on the manor rich and convincing.

But.

began to switch off around the time we discover Jacob Cullen is possessed?  haunted?  by a "Voice" that encouraged him to brutally kill a young boy, and then rape his new bride.  Jacob ends up in the New Model Army where he forms an intense relationship with Ferris, who is a naturally good man.  The descriptions of the war and the brutality are vivid and detailed.

  After they get back to London, Ferris becomes obsessed with forming a common plot for "diggers," and he and Jacob form an intense homosexual romance.  At that point and for the rest of the book everything was rather overheated and lusty.  It seemed like every other page was a description of longing for the embrace or the sweetness between their legs etc.  I would have been equally bored if this had been a heterosexual couple, but I couldn't connect this simpering Ferris with the earlier Ferris, and Jacob's bouts of violence began to bore me.  The book ends when they've been kicked off the common brutally by the neighboring lord, with the implication that Jacob could have stopped it but just didn't, and Jacob is on a boat to America crying. The Voice is silent.

 I feel as though I didn't get it. A number of readers here assume the Voice is a symptom of Jacob's schizophrenia or madness, but it's presented in the book as though it really is the devil.  Well, which? Did Jacob rape his own brother when he was a teenager, as implied in one scene?  I kind of resented the way the author withheled information from us-- it's first-person narration, but the author only conveniently reveals/remembers these types of things, when for the first 70-80 pages of the book, Jacob is presented as well-liked and decent.  It just seemed flashy.

The book's change in focus and tone felt somewhat ad hoc.

 Lots of loose threads with Jacob's family.  Ultimately, I was disappointed.  After zooming through the first half, I just naturally slowed down and took a week to read the rest.  By then I was cottoning on that the author was never going to reveal the mysteries, that no one plot was going to develop in a satisfying way, and that she enjoyed vivid descriptions of violence and sex but not deeper characterizations.  She can definitely bring a period to life, but the characters were ultimately shadowy and the storytelling was disjointed.
I generally really like well-researched historical fiction, and have been a big fan of Dorothy Dunnett and Philippa Gregory (though the latter takes a lot of liberties with history). I was quite drawn into this book from the first sentence, and found the description of life on the manor rich and convincing. But. began to switch off around the time we discover Jacob Cullen is possessed? haunted? by a "Voice" that encouraged him to brutally kill a young boy, and then rape his new bride. Jacob ends up in the New Model Army where he forms an intense relationship with Ferris, who is a naturally good man. The descriptions of the war and the brutality are vivid and detailed. After they get back to London, Ferris becomes obsessed with forming a common plot for "diggers," and he and Jacob form an intense homosexual romance. At that point and for the rest of the book everything was rather overheated and lusty. It seemed like every other page was a description of longing for the embrace or the sweetness between their legs etc. I would have been equally bored if this had been a heterosexual couple, but I couldn't connect this simpering Ferris with the earlier Ferris, and Jacob's bouts of violence began to bore me. The book ends when they've been kicked off the common brutally by the neighboring lord, with the implication that Jacob could have stopped it but just didn't, and Jacob is on a boat to America crying. The Voice is silent. I feel as though I didn't get it. A number of readers here assume the Voice is a symptom of Jacob's schizophrenia or madness, but it's presented in the book as though it really is the devil. Well, which? Did Jacob rape his own brother when he was a teenager, as implied in one scene? I kind of resented the way the author withheled information from us-- it's first-person narration, but the author only conveniently reveals/remembers these types of things, when for the first 70-80 pages of the book, Jacob is presented as well-liked and decent. It just seemed flashy. The book's change in focus and tone felt somewhat ad hoc. Lots of loose threads with Jacob's family. Ultimately, I was disappointed. After zooming through the first half, I just naturally slowed down and took a week to read the rest. By then I was cottoning on that the author was never going to reveal the mysteries, that no one plot was going to develop in a satisfying way, and that she enjoyed vivid descriptions of violence and sex but not deeper characterizations. She can definitely bring a period to life, but the characters were ultimately shadowy and the storytelling was disjointed.