Meandering Em's

I had great difficulty getting through this book despite its glorious writing. I would give it 2 1/2 stars if possible. There were 4-5 major stories running through the book and the author did the latest fad of jumping from one story to the next. When she resumed one story line, I had to go back to review the plot. All the different details from the separate stories started to blend together. The time lines were confusing. It probably would have been helpful to know more about the history of the Balkans since the Ottoman Empire. This lack of knowledge was detrimental to fully appreciating the story.