soledad penadés

This book started somewhat slowly for me--what with the abundance of footnotes and all? But I started liking all the trivia more and more as I progressed reading, often making a note of things I wanted to check out later (in "the internets") so as to not to distract myself from reading the story. And then, when I was totally into the book... IT FINISHED! Noooo!

So I'm reconsidering now whether I want to re-read it again right now. It's that good!

Except for the slow start, the script feels really "dynamic" and well written. Sydney uses existing literature and quotes artfully to get the right "feel" even if it's not accurate. Then she confesses in the footnotes. Plenty of historical "celebrities" show up, and it's funny to try to guess where does the reality end and the fiction starts in these depictions.

The final chapters with tons more of "footnotes" elevated to full text, plus explanations of the machines and customs of the times, are great as well.

Overall it's a very enjoyable book and it certainly leaves you wondering what could have happened if things had been... different. Like... "in a parallel universe" different.