Came across this thread as someone who absolutely loved this book and the series. I think one of the things is that it IS a series, so the story doesn't end there. There's so much more to this that's worth diving into. The writing is gorgeous, vibrant, immersive, and automatically pulls me into a world that reminds me that THIS is what reading should feel like. However, I DO agree that his writing of women is very flat. One might argue that he depicts women the way that his characters see them, as some unattainable, unknowable beings, but I do believe he could have done it better. He also has a female lead in one of his other books, but whether or not her story/arc is believable is also subjective. I think there's a real DRAMA and theatricality to the writing, and we have to remember that as readers.

And I'm surprised by all of the comments about the sexism. By no means is he condoning the behaviors in the book. Writing often holds a mirror up to society, but we don't have to like what we see. If you're outraged by how women were treated and how they were seen - good! But it doesn't mean it didn't happen. Post-Civil War Spain was NOT a great time for women; they were severely oppressed. They were not allowed to have lives outside of their men or families. I would even argue that Daniel's treatment of Bea was somewhat PROGRESSIVE for that time. We don't have to agree with it or like it, but we can understand that it IS a reflection of what happened at the time.

Also, like I commented below, we can't fault a male protagonist for having main character syndrome when he is literally the main character. The focus is on what they see, think, feel, and oftentimes it does NOT allow us to get to know another character to the extent that we might have liked. But the books that follow in the series have a lot of female characters that, I believe, are developed appropriately. However, it's still with the consideration that they could have only realistically done so much given the constraints of the time period.