A very tough, hard, devastating story. The central figure of the book is James Brodie, the father, the tyrant. It was probably the first time for me to hate a book character so desperately. This person destroys all the people around him and poisons their lives. The whole family of Brodie was petrified by the father, they had no other emotions but a constant fear. In some chapters, like the one, where James forces Mary to leave, I could not continue reading, it was too much for me. Extrem emotions and fear for a very few good people described in the story capture a reader completely. When everything seems to be terrible, it only gets worse. 4 stars because during the whole book the character of James Brodie is described too many times in the very same way. It is clear from the beginning that he is a typical tyrant, and, like all tyrants, weak, vicious, stupid, ignorant and limited. Tyranny, as the only way to survive, is a kind of disease, slowly proceeding, incurable and inevitably ruining. That's it. I was rather annoyed to read about it in every chapter. At least in the end James got what he deserved, however it breaks my heart that so many people had to sacrifice themselves for it. A tragic, horrible, violent story that cannot leave anyone emotionless. I would not recommend this book to very impressionable people.