More Rant Than Review, Inspired by Falcones's The Barefoot Queen

I don't normally do this. But I've spent four days reading a 700-some? page book and only made it to 30%. It's stellar writing and an interesting historical tale of the life of the Gypsies and their persecution and customs in the late 1700s, Spain. The tale follows not only an apparently incredibly, mind-blowingly gorgeous Gypsy girl, Milagros, but also a former Cuban slave, Caridad--who also inspires men to wild lust as soon as they lay their eyes on her. (Yes, I have a disembodied part in that sentence. No, I don't care.)

Caridad's story broke my heart from page one. I kept reading despite some irritation (I'll get to that) in hopes she'd find happiness and also, a backbone. But in the end, despite the fact I wanted so much for the constantly beaten and raped Caridad, I could not continue.

I not only felt I was on the outside looking in (something I hate), but I got incredibly tired of the rape, sexual deviation, and lust every which way in this tale. Every single man who sees Caridad either masturbates whilst looking at her, rapes her, or desires her and fights it. Seriously??? I don't care how beautiful a woman is, not every single man is going to struggle with lust for her. Men are all different and are attracted to different types of women. And then it also began with Milagros.

The girl was beautiful; she emanated sensuality with every movement. They wouldn't even be able to walk a couple of leagues before men started pouncing on her...

We are told nonsense like this in between rapes, attempted rapes, and masturbations and bits about farmers diddling their own daughters constantly.

Even the men of the cloth are not exempt from lusting after Caridad, Milagros, or both.

Were things hard on women back in these days? You betcha. But do I care to be reminded every 5 minutes that men are apparently horny bastards who constantly fantasize about tearing our clothes off? No, I don't. Books like this make me afraid to leave my house and go to work. (The male to female ratio is way off in my line of work.)

So, when is it too much? As I said above, not every single man who lays eyes on a woman is going to be driven mad with lust. Thoughts?