this book is definitely sweet, and i liked a few things about it, but i think it attempted to cover too much and ultimately fell a little short in that sense. the 1871 commune is an immense topic — one that i have hardly read about in fiction, which is precisely why i felt excited about picking this one up. and while penney’s novel is well-researched and informative about the commune and what happened both in the months leading up to it and immediately afterwards, i felt like the more fictional side of the story was just sort of . . . there. ellis and lawrence were sweet enough, and anne was a compelling character, but i don’t think their storylines meshed particularly well, and i feel like the result was just a bit too clunky for me to love it. i still think it’s worth a shot, though — particularly if you’re into histfic with a diverse set of main characters and want to know a little more about the paris commune.