Very interesting and readable, but tends to get repetitive when they are not traveling to a new assignment or getting settled in. Then again,you forget sometimes just how young Emily was - far into the book, she only then was turning 25. Some important life events are not covered here because the letters are missing, and after the last letter, you get only one paragraph about the rest of her life (1878-1912). There's more information in the introduction, but it seemed odd and out of order to put 'the rest of her life' up front instead of at the end. ( )