As a preface to what I'm about to say.....this is a well-written book. The characters are well-developed, it appears to be mostly historically-accurate, and it has some good themes about understanding others and opening our hearts. It's a good read.

That said, it also irritated me -- because this is my parent's generation, and this is the kind of crap they did. Me, me, me....rushing into something like this because it was all about what they wanted at the time. The epilogue of this book should be : 15 years later, they realize they never really knew each other and should never have married...they divorce and split the kids and house down the middle. I mean...SO MANY of our parents played out this exact scene...starting with the book and ending with my epilogue. If you don't have an emotional tie-in, then you'll probably enjoy the book a lot more.