I really enjoyed this when I read it a couple of years ago, and T Tembaron as well, so it sound so like I should give A Fair Barbarian a go too :-). As you say, it was a little draggy in places, but FHB absolutely gets the American/British stuff bang on (speaking as someone who went the other way, childhood in the US and adult life here), even a century later it’s all surprisingly apt, in mood if not in details.