Conley’s book is... short on action, but without a compensating depth of character analysis ... There is promise in the idea of two families growing and warping around the secret of queerness, in such a time and place. Yet its development here is circular and shallow ... Sensibly, Conley doesn’t attempt to recreate the speech of 18th-century Puritans ... The issue with his dialogue is that it’s undifferentiated, every character sounding the same. And what can’t be forgiven is his profligacy with verbal cliché.
Affecting if contrived ... Although the plot seems trite, Conley paces it well ... Conley is guilty of "presentism," the framing of past events and people through the lens of contemporary concerns ... But the novel’s assured rhythm enhances the interior struggles of Conley’s characters.
...an evocative and mystical work of historical fiction ... Conley uses these female friendships to gently explore, with honesty and sensitivity, how the ripples of intolerance spread throughout the lives the lives of all involved parties ... as much a character-driven examination of the cost of suppression as a compelling dip into spiritual realism ... a contemplative depiction of the endurance required to survive religious intolerance that is probing, redemptive and brimming with compassion for the human race.
The writing is masterful but un-self-flattering. The story is as linear as human life, with its twists and turns, flash-forwards and flashbacks, will allow. The language is startling in its unstartlingness, consciously and painstakingly turning away from verbal acrobatics and rhetorical enigmas. It moves you right along, and then it moves you deeply. All this novel lacks is artifice.
[Conley] succeeds in this sprawling, subtle, complex, and rewarding work of powerfully envisioned historical fiction, a novel rich in themes of faith, divinity, desire, and love.
Conley has crafted a rich, deeply researched story whose characters are alive with contradictions ... Conley’s interest isn’t so much in the suspenseful machinations of how the two men connect but in the revealing ways they react to their feelings for each other at a time when even articulating their desire is profoundly shocking ... A novel that brings its Puritan setting alive with two men who are wounded for falling in love.
