[neilmarr]

the Dublin work's the only Rutherfurd apart from New York that I've not tackled yet, Ea. Sorry you were so disappointed. Rutherfurd actually went to live in Ireland for some years to research the books. I guess he found it tough to resist the temptation of displaying what he'd learned. I agree -- that's a bad trait in an author. Hope he manages to curb his enthusiasm in future books and reduces the information load so that he explains only what's necessary to the story and the characters that populate it. That's plenty for most readers to be going on with. And I also agree that Sarum wasn't his best writing. You must admit, though ... it wasn't a bad start. Cheers. Neil