I have been thinking about how best to review this extraordinary book and have decided to keep it brief. This could easily be the most harrowing book I have ever read. There were moments where I just wanted to stop reading, because it was so difficult to continue-there is no glossing over the brutality that occurs to Jude. However, it is the kindness and friendship and patience and love that Jude encounters in his later life that stay with you. And it breaks your heart that he is so badly damaged that he cannot accept that he deserves these kindnesses. Reading this book is an investment: in your time and emotional energy. It is an investment well worth making.