Kristin Hannah does a marvelous job of maintaining the main character's (Tess') modern sensibilities when she suddenly finds herself on a rural island off the coast of Washington State in the 1870's. Suddenly, she needs to accustom herself to a new identity,and to life without microwaves and washing machines.Kristin Hannah does a wonderful job (always) of showing us the psychological scars of the characters, and showing how gentleness, honesty, and caring can overcome them. In this case, Tess' (Amarylis') husband and daughters need to overcome extreme psychological trauma, and Tess needs to work hard for the love she's always done without.Romances are usually only good for one read, but I've reread this book several times (whenever I need a good cry).