This book made me feel too much. It's not really a mystery novel, and there isn't a ton of action in the book, but it's still suspenseful and gripping. The pacing of the story was brilliant. You got just enough information to be more and more intrigued as the story unfolds. The book centers on the relationship between these two Hungarian women--the lady writer Magda and her older housekeeper Emerence. Emerence is such an interesting, mesmerizing character. Emerence is wonderful and caring and selfless, but can also be proud, spiteful, hateful, and distant. Magda doesn't have the same force of nature behind her, but the way she looks back on her actions and lays bare her own blindness and selfishness is so human. It wasn't a happy book, but it was very moving.