Astonishing . . . breathtaking . . . You are seduced completely. --Washington Post Book World
Captivating, minutely imagined . . . a novel that refuses to stay shut. --Newsweek
A story with the social vibrancy and narrative sweep of a much-loved 19th century bildungsroman. . . . This is a high-wire act. . . . Rarely has a world so closed and foreign been evoked with such natural assurance. --The New Yorker
From the Trade Paperback edition.