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Stephenson is a great writer, but his choices with this one prove disappointing. As the author deftly handles dancing through the protagonist's life, the reader is never given occasion to see her as anything but a victim of circumstance--with one notable exception. She never really asks herself or shows through her actions "Why."

The most interesting element of the book is the inclusion of historical events that were huge at the time but no one remembers now. WWI and WWII were so huge that now the 1930s are simply thought of as "The Depression," with no further nuance or detail. People think of Steinbeck's fiction as the facts. Many of the events in this book are very interesting to learn about.

The other choice I don't agree with is making polo one focus of the story. Stephenson does a terrific job of educating his readers, taking us on a journey, as he explains interesting topics. Unfortunately, polo is not an interesting topic. Wealthy, narcissistic people play polo so they can excel at a sport that their physical betters can't afford to play. The more written about polo, the less I enjoyed the book.

While trivial, Stephenson also makes the Jules Verne mistake of making some lists of people too long. "Here's a list of all the people and firms who gave money to build the cannon to shoot the sphere to the moon: blahblahblah."

While this is the first book in a trilogy, it does not stand well on its own, unfortunately.