※适合喜欢福克纳（Faulkner）的读者，这本书充满了福克纳式的美国南方家族传奇故事，充满了温馨情感以及动人的悲伤。Mary Bet这个角色的坚强令人想起《乱世佳人》（Gone with the Wind）里面的郝思嘉。
 
※本书有重重的南方味道，作者非常会带读者进入这独特的时代，整本书有电影的画面，非常生动。
 
 
《爱与悲伤》设在1800后期以及第一世界大战期间的被卡罗来纳州，故事围绕在Hartsoe家族所经历的非凡苦难以及不幸。
 
Mary Bet是八个孩子里的老幺，她出生的那一年是美国开始盖铁路的同时。她在南方重建以及工业化时期成年，必须学会克服她的家族诅咒。她的母亲以及哥哥姐姐都一一去世、她的父亲渐渐失去理智，开始拒绝上帝，以及威胁到她的人生的家族秘密。Mary Bet是一位令人疼惜的角色，她的遭遇以及坚强令人激励，非常感动。
 
本书具有非常传统的美国南方风味，作者John Milliken Thompson带着读者回到过去，透过难忘的角色、严谨的细节以及生动的声音创造了一个鲜艳的故事。
 
关于作者：
John Milliken Thompson是The Reservoir (Other Press, 2011) 的作者。他的文章在 Smithsonian, The Washington Post, Islands 以及其他期刊出版过。他的短篇故事曾在Louisiana Literature, South Dakota Review以及其他文学周刊里出版。他有University of Arkansas的MFA学位，目前住在佛及尼亚州。
 
Praise for The Reservoir
. . . both an exciting and lyrical read–I couldn’t put it down–and raises interesting questions about guilt and justice and family bonds.”
— 
Belle Boggs, author of Mattaponi Queen
“an intoxicating tale of loyalty, betrayal and the enduring vagaries of the human heart”
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Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“[an] astonishing novel”
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Southern Literary Review
“Pitch-perfect to the post-Civil War era . . . This is an impressive first novel  . . . hurtling toward greatness as an artful vehicle for grappling with temptations and the ambiguities of guilt. . . . The Reservoir gets stronger and richer as it rolls toward its startling climax.”
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Jim Lynch, Washington Post
“In this compelling novel, this superb writer instructs and enchants.”
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Richmond Times-Dispatch
“[Thompson] does an outstanding job . . . This book will entertain readers with the quality of its writing, its true and intricate details of 1885 Richmond and its tale of . . . American tragedy.”
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Free Lance-Star
“Fans of courtroom drama, historical mysteries, and Southern gothic are sure to enjoy the tale which, even once the book is finished, will keep readers wondering about what happened at the reservoir.”
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ForeWord Reviews
“Thompson masterfully illustrates how a seemingly clear-cut case can be filled with ambiguities.”
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 Library Journal
“Thompson . . . fleshes out the bones of an actual 1885 murder case in his solidly entertaining first novel.”
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Publishers Weekly
“In The Reservoir, John Thompson has created historical fiction of the very highest quality: vivid in its period details, gripping in its drama. It’s a novel of the South that tells the reader that there is more to the culture, more to the history, than the Civil War.”
— 
Christopher Tilghman, author of Mason’s Retreat
“Southern Gothic gets a new twist in this true-life novel of crime and punishment in the heart of the fallen Confederacy. John Milliken Thompson stumbled upon a real-life case of long ago, re-created its world, and crafted a gripping tale. From the poignant puzzle brilliantly set out on the opening pages, The Reservoir plunges ever deeper into hidden depths of guilt and passion.”
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Henry Wiencek, author of An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America
“A novel based on a true story that incorporates a bit of history and a touch of the Southern Gothic tradition … [Thompson] writes compellingly about the bond between Willie and Tommie, and his portrayal of the social mores of the post-Civil War South is believable … an engaging mystery novel.”
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Kirkus Reviews
“This book defies categorization.  What begins as a mystery steadily becomes a study of one foolish young man’s inevitable meeting with his destiny.  Not much is likable about the main character as we come to know him in his youth; yet somehow, through the course of this cinematically portrayed novel, I was moved by him and cared about him. By the end, the reader is observing Everyman; the human condition just is–and redemption is possible.”
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Laura DeVault, Over the Moon Bookstore, Crozet, VA
“It is the way people think and feel that creates the plot for this book … the characters are absolutely right from start to finish.”
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Joanne Greenberg, author of I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
“I couldn’t put this book down. The story, based on real events in 1883, is the murder of Lillie, who was eight months pregnant when she was found floating face up in Richmond, VA’s drinking water reservoir. Was it an accident, suicide or something more sinister? The author really captured the feeling of the time, but it was difficult to imagine that so many of the police proceedings and trial rulings are totally different from ours of today.”
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Mary Kay Brunskill Cohen, Anderson’s Bookshop, Naperville, IL
“Gorgeously suffused with the feel of 1880s Virginia, The Reservoir is not a whodunit but, even better, a did-he-do-it… John Milliken Thompson’s debut is an all-too-human and unforgettable puzzle, rendered in haunting shades of gray.”
— 
Holly LeCraw, author of The Swimming Pool