I loved his first novel, The Quincunx.......I rarely read fiction but it was a real page-turner. Rustication however I found boring.....waited for something interesting to happen....didn't....and the end was disappointing. Did manage to finish it though, as I should.

Twisty plot but ultimately unsatisfying.

Very slow book, not very interesting, unpleasant characters, why bother. Half way through I am giving up disappointed. The subject, yet another addict (to opium and sex) is not adding anything you don't know, 1863 or anytime.

Despite the Victorian setting and publisher's hype, this was a disappointing, plodding novel. Nothing had happened by page 100 and that's when I put it down for the last time.