Writing a dissertation can be a lengthy and arduous task, no matter how resolute the author. Toss in a long-distance romance, lovesickness, and serious illness, and the journey might well become intolerable. Stevens's (Bleaker House) PhD research begins with a group of artists and writers who lived and worked in Rome, Italy, in the mid-1800s. The author is drawn to one member of the group, Elizabeth Gaskell, who traveled to the city to avoid reviews of her controversial biography of Charlotte Brontë. While in Rome, Gaskell met the love of her life, American critic Charles Eliot Norton, who was 17 years her junior. Gaskell eventually returned to her rather dreary husband and life in Manchester and became famous for works including North and South and Cranford. She died in 1865. When Stevens's cherished boyfriend Max proves unreliable, she finds that she and Gaskell might be kindred spirits. VERDICT Equal parts personal memoir and history, Stevens's latest will appeal to anyone who has struggled with love, loss, and facing an uncertain future.—Penelope J.M. Klein, Edinburgh, Scotland