So-so - Rated 
I found that this book started in a slow and over-convoluted way. The edition I read had several glaring editorial errors which also put me off. I was expecting a great deal more from the hype surrounding this book. I would not buy another book by this author.
difficult to put the book down - Rated 
I picked up The Rose Of Sebastopol by Katharine McMahon, I had not expected it to be much more than a semi-interesting read. However, with every page turn, I became more and more attached to the novel's heroine, and actually found it very difficult to put the book down. Since reading this book, I have highly recommended it to all my girlfriends. It's a beautiful story about life, love and friendship filled with excitement, heartbreak and hope. I'd also recommend reading Tino Georgiou's bestselling novel--The Fates--if you haven't yet!!
Great story but shame about the ending - Rated 
I wasn't sure about this book at first as it seemed a bit slow to start off but like The Alchemists Daughter it soon became difficult to put down and whilst I really wanted to know what had happened to Rosa and what would happen between Max and Mariella I didn't want the story to end. I was a bit disappointed with the end and had to reread it to check I hadn't missed something fundamental, although at least I can imagine what would happen next. Some novels add a fairytale ending and I guess that just isn't realistic.
If you spend all your time sewing, you might miss out on life ... - Rated 
There is not a single character who you can really warm to in this overlong novel, except the narrator Mariella - but even she takes about 350 pages to come to her senses. You can't really blame them (or can you?), as middle-class Victorians always hoping to better themselves one way or another, they're totally hide-bound by social convention, and blind to those below them.
Mariella's one skill is sewing and she spends the rest of her time pining for up and coming surgeon and fiancee Henry who is consulting on field hospitals for the Crimean war. Her fiesty Derbyshire cousin Rosa having been landed on Mariella's family when her father stepfather dies decides to become a nurse, manages to gain Henry's attentions, and decamps to join Miss Nightingale's team. When Rosa goes missing in the Crimea, and Henry is sent back to Italy with consumption deliriously asking for Rosa, Mariella takes the big step to go in search of her cousin... This is where, belatedly, the novel gets properly interesting, as Mariella's eyes are gradually opened to the horrors of war, and hospitals where almost no-one gets out alive, yet she finds hidden reserves of character and strength to find out what happened.
Something much deeper masquerading as a romantic novel? - Rated
Reading the reviews here quite a few people seem upset by the ending, or what seems to be perceived as a lack of ending, but I have to say I disagree. This isn't the conventional romantic historical story it seems to set itself out as, and that's indicative of the way the narrator changes and hence re-shapes her narrative. There is a sort of closure at the end, or rather two ends, both of which close with a stunning image, the reverse of each other and yet somehow intricately intertwined.
I won't write a plot summary as that's already been done, but this is an extremely accomplished novel, beautifully written, subtle, intelligent. I don't usually like any R&J recommendations and find them trite and instantly forgettable, but this book has stayed with me and resonates beyond what you would expect from the start.
Having said that, it's also just a good story: good characters, confident narrative, a plot-line that keeps you turning the pages. But it's a shame to respond to it just on that surface level. I think McMahon is an under-rated writer and have just ordered her other books having finished this one. Well recommended.
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