The word that most came to me while reading this was "Dickensian" which for me is a for better and for worse term. It means a sprawling epic, well-written, with scores of interesting characters...but it also means the female characters felt a bit lacking or less-developed than the male characters. I understand that the main character, our David Coppefield if you will, is male, but the story felt most full when the female characters were more present and human; I didn't feel this happened enough, or with much nuance (the male characters got far more nuance). Overall this was fine, and absorbing, but nothing special for me.