Susan Meissner has had a long career writing really unique and captivating novels, and her newest one is no exception. I’m not the biggest fan of historical fiction, but even though this is a novel full of rich historical detail, it also contains fantastic characters and a hint of mystery and intrigue.
The Nature of Fragile Things is a February 2021 release by Berkley Publishing
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links, see disclosures for more detail.
About the Book:
Sophie Whalen is a young Irish immigrant so desperate to get out of a New York tenement that she answers a mail-order bride ad and agrees to marry a man she knows nothing about. San Francisco widower Martin Hocking proves to be as aloof as he is mesmerizingly handsome. Sophie quickly develops deep affection for Kat, Martin’s silent five-year-old daughter, but Martin’s odd behavior leaves her with the uneasy feeling that something about her newfound situation isn’t right.
Then one early-spring evening, a stranger at the door sets in motion a transforming chain of events. Sophie discovers hidden ties to two other women. The first, pretty and pregnant, is standing on her doorstep. The second is hundreds of miles away in the American Southwest, grieving the loss of everything she once loved.
The fates of these three women intertwine on the eve of the devastating earthquake, thrusting them onto a perilous journey that will test their resiliency and resolve and, ultimately, their belief that love can overcome fear.
My Thoughts:
I gave this book 4 stars
I always enjoy Susan Meissner’s books and this one was no exception. The story of a woman from Ireland who becomes a mail order bride to a widower in San Francisco in order to provide a mother for his young daughter. Sophie doesn’t love Martin, but she gradually starts to love Kat, his daughter. Then she has a mysterious visitor and everything she thought she knew turns on its head. The next morning, the San Francisco earthquake hits and nothing is the same again.
Once Sophie got her mysterious visitor I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to find out what was going to happen. There are a large number of twists and turns to the story, and the backdrop of 1906 San Francisco before and after the earthquake is riveting. I loved the way the characters created a family even when they weren’t related by blood. I really liked how, particularly the women, formed a solidarity in the face of situations that would cause them to despair.
The only shortfall in this book (and it’s really minor) was that there was never any real hardship. Even after the quake, money was never an issue, they weren’t injured, and I never got a true sense of the devastation and loss from the quake because of it. However, that really wasn’t the overall point of the story, so it truly is a minor issue.
The characters are well drawn and fascinating and I loved how the story came full circle at the end. There is a great sense of finality and conclusion with the epilogue which was the perfect ending to the tale.
