And just why would Ms. Bronte write a book with not a single likeable character? In fact, everyone in the novel would be rejected by Jerry Springer as being too degenerate for his show. No doubt the writing is facile enough, but by page 5, the story itself descends into what has to be the most turgid potboiler imagineable. It's all there: lynching a litter of puppies,hanging a springer spaniel,unceasing child abuse, the brutalization of women, and pretty descriptions of the seasons. Highly recommended for the budding mass murderer.