Words fail me to tell of this book and especially this author, Douglas Kennedy! I fell totally by chance on one of his other books, and since I spend my life reading. DK has the ability to find the words to describe feelings, ill-being and usually untold joys. It's not that the story that linked me to this book, it is the strength of the characters and their diversity, their experiences described throughout history a woman: Sara Smythe. The author does not tell that lives, it sets up an atmosphere, we become spectators of an era. For those who have not yet realized, I urge them "The pursuit of happiness."