The Veil of Sorrow is almost the story of one woman Comtesse Laurensa Catherine de la Fontaine and the women in her life. I say almost because there are two love stories, one with the Baronne Isabelle dela Chorange, and the other with Madame Faivre, but neither are quite delved into. Another love is in the works which, again, is never quite developed.

We know that the Comtesse is a vampire; there are hints to how she became a vampire, but not enough meat to sink our teeth into. There are a LOT of story lines in this book but all were glossed over and, as a result, the characters are almost incomplete.

I am not one for long books or excessive filler but this is one book where I would have liked to read more about the characters and see them in different situations. I wanted to get attached to them and “want” to know what happens to them. I was waiting for the climax, but I never got it.

The other thing is that this is written as the diaries and letters of the different characters and, although this might have worked for other books (namely Bram Stoker’s Dracula), it didn’t quite do it for me in this case.

Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not a hard read. It’s actually pleasant if you don’t expect action or romance. I was expecting much more.

Read it on a lazy Sunday.