Undone [Kindle Edition]

I just learned when I read the review in this page that this novel is loosely based on real facts. Maybe that explains some things that happened that I considered unnecesarilly tragic, like the death of someone towards the end of the book that made absolutely no sense to me, since it didn't contribute anything important to the main story and was a very sad event. I won't say who it is as to not spoil the surprise. You'll know who I'm talking about if you read the novel.

The one complain I have about this book is that it was too long. In fact the first one hundred pages or so, where so slow that I actually put it down 3 times and read other books before I finally decided to finish this one. In the end I'm glad that I read it completely, because after the first initial calm the book picks up the pace, but after that outburst, it slows down again after Elizabeth marries. Her married life took too much of the novel, and John Campbell, who was supossedly the other main character rather dissapears from the book for long periods of time, only appearing sporadically. During that time the story is only from Elizabeth point of view, and we don't know much about John. The novel was more about Elizabeth journey from an innocent little girl to a mature woman, and I felt that John was only slightly more important in the novel than the rest of the secondary characters. To put it in other words, if the novel was a movie we would probably be seeing more of the villain and the support cast than the hero. I really think that more than 400 pages of small print were not justified to tell the love story of this book. But then that is just my personal opinion.

This said, I can only add that if you are ready for a strongly emotional and intense novel, don't miss this one. If you are just looking for a light and fun read, "Undone" is not for you.

There are two points I wanted to make in response to other reviews posted here.

I appreciate the research that Ms. Henley and her team has done and it made this novel exceptional in its genre.
I researched Elizabeth Gunning online and I also saw that Elizabeth had three children from her marriage with James. However, I give Ms. Henley kudos for her use of artistic license which allows Elizabeth to have one child from that marriage. It is essential to the storyline, and in keeping with our ideas of what a romance novel should be, that the child be fathered by her true love and not the "villain". Three, all fathered by John and not James, would have been ridiculous.

Yes, we DO expect to see the lovers end up happily together in the end. THAT is what makes it a romance novel. I enjoyed the twists in the storyline which kept the lovers apart and kept me on the edge of my seat.
Ms Henley has created wonderful complex characters in this novel and I enjoyed watching them grow and mature through the story, especially our heroine. Elizabeth begins our story as a 16 year old girl who is completely controlled by her mother and becomes a strong and courageous woman and mother before the story is through. I was shocked when Elizabeth refused to marry her true love after she had become a widow, but after reading on it all became clear. Elizabeth was refusing MARRIAGE (essentially a state of ownership in those times) not LOVE. After considering this last twist I also understood that Ms. Henley was being true to her characters and I appreciated the novel all the more for it.

Thank you, Ms. Henley for an extraordinary novel!!!