Although the book is historical fiction, it read more like a history book than a novel. I was hoping for more of a storyline to run through the book rather than the relatively dry recitation of facts presented through disjointed episodes. The book was definitely more informative than interesting.

The book starts with a note about Pointe de Sable, who in 1785 moved to Echicagou to an inhospitable wilderness, where he developed a trade.

The story starts with Eulalie and Isack in 1812, who were to travel to Fort Dearborn due to possible attack of Potawatomie on Echicagou. The same year, she comes back home to St. Charles without Isack and is very sick.

Then the story moves to 1834 Echicagou, where John Wright at the age of 19 is already a notable merchant and storekeeper, and owner of notable number of land lots. He courts Miss Chappell, a 28 year old teacher. Her wise words attract him to her.

Here the story of Eulalie and Miss Chappell connect. When Miss Chappell meets Mrs. Eulalie, she doesn’t know what to make of her. Mrs. Eulalie practices Indian medicine and claims to be born in Echicagou, which to Miss Chappell’s estimate would have been a time inhabited only by Potawatomise.

The story jumps again to a different time and place and character, Ellis Chesbrough, who at the age of 17 is already an Assistant Engineer.

Although the characters are richly developed, there is not much to the story of the city itself. And that was the reason I reached for this book. At 30% through the story, it was all over the place, instead of being concentrated on Chicago. I gave up at this point.

You walk the streets of a city, never thinking of how these streets, these buildings came into being. You never think of the people involved, the flesh and blood, their dreams, their hopes and even at times their failures. This is the story of one of those cities.

We come upon Jean Baptiste Pointe de Sable who is basically the founder of Chicago. He built his home on a piece of marsh land, a log cabin that was a structure sitting in tranquility, with nothing else surrounding it. Yet, as time goes by, there are others who will come to this and the surrounding area, either staying or passing by. We meet them, the speculators who bought up as much as they could, who see the potential the land could bring. We meet those who help build the canals, the Irish who come with their own needs and the need to get away from their homeland. We meet the Swedish lumberjacks as well and there are others who bring their stories and give us pause as we read how each one of them blended their being into the making of a city, Chicago. As we read about the development of this little frontier town that became the huge metropolitan city if has, we also catch a glimpse into the personal lives of these people.

Do you ever walk on these streets and think of those who have come before us, to make up a metropolis? Can you even imagine what it took to create what we have today, the foresight of those who have that imagination, that thirst to forge ahead in spite of whatever difficulties confronted them? Probably not, but this novel gives us the opportunity to understand the hardships and personal struggles of what it takes to build a city....not just any city, Chicago.

There is quite a bit of information to absorb with this book and it is a slow read, not to be rushed. At times, it reads like a text book, at times it is more of a personal story, informally told. But it's the history of the immigrants fleeing for a better life that brings this book alive. My thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.