The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner.   A historical mystery set before, during and after the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.  Heartwarming family drama of friendship, courage, loyalty and love.  A police interrogation is woven into the narrative added to the suspense of how the mystery would play out.  An intriguing twist at the end made for a more than satisfying conclusion.  Very well written and interesting historical background of the California earthquakes and the aftermaths.  

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

Man, I can’t remember what book it was that turned me away from reading historical fiction for such a long period of time but I’m glad to have found some really good ones this year including this one. So much going on here in “Sophie’s” life: Past secrets and a deep desire for things that don’t come easy.  I love her relationship with Kat.  Definitely one of the fragile things. The description of them running through the streets and trying to find a safe place after the earthquake and fires was so good. The friendships Sophie ends up with are so lovely. Really well done.

Susan Meissner does historical fiction in an incredibly intriguing way.  Her work is like no other.

Answering a newspaper ad, Irish immigrant Sophie Whalen leaves New York where conditions are deplorable and finds herself married to a man she only met once she stepped off the train.  Her new husband, Martin, a widower, has told her he must have a wife to be respected in his office and to care for his daughter.

Sophie's hope of finding love with Martin is dashed soon after their new life together begins.  He is mysteriously away frequently and begins a new business venture that seems odd.  When a knock on Sophie's door comes unexpectedly, her life and that of her visitor, changes quickly.  An earthquake shortly thereafter complicates things even further.

Synopsis

Sophie Whalen is an Irish immigrant living in a down-trodden tenement in New York who responds to a mail-order bride ad to marry Martin Hocking of San Francisco and care for his 5-year-old daughter while he travels for work. It sounds like the perfect opportunity to better her situation and while Martin is incredibly handsome (though quite aloof), it’s little Kat who steals her heart.

It isn’t long before a pregnant woman arrives on her doorstep and changes everything. Sophie discovers ties to other women and is determined to get to the bottom of Martin’s lies as she realizes he isn’t the man he’s led her to believe. Gripping, heartbreaking, and historically accurate, this novel is a beautiful, page-turning tale of mother love, friendship, and female solidarity.

Review

My favorite part of this book was that it centered around the 1906 earthquake, an event I’d heard and known very little about, that was detrimental to the city of San Francisco. It made the reading experience feel a bit like time travel as I peeked into the past and bore witness to events that actually happened. The author truly captured the panic and devastation that took place on that morning as the historical account ran alongside the dramatic fiction tale creating a web of both knowledge and excitement. The writing was eloquent and the story complex. I found myself believing in these characters and was wrapped up in the story as opposed to looking in from the outside. It was truly a great read that I recommend if you like historical fiction and strong women who take charge.

The Nature of Fragile Things will be available everywhere on February 2, 2021.

Thank you Berkley Publishing Group for providing an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Sophie is an Irish immigrant in New York living in a tenement when she responds to an add for a mail order bride in San Francisco. She is determined to have a better life, be a good wife, and stepmother to his five year old daughter Kat. Martin is frequently on the road for his job as an insurance salesman. He is an elusive man, difficult to know. Sophie is resolved to unlock Kay’s silence as she  mourns the loss of her mother.. on the eve of the San Francisco earthquake a woman arrives on the doorstep looking for her husband James. What follows is as earth shattering as the earthquake itself. What follows is part homage to the sisterhood of women everywhere as well as to mothers and stepmothers. Meissner’s description of the earthquake and its aftermath will make you feel like you are there. I look forward to recommending this book to historical fiction fans who are burned out on WWII. I will warn them to have their tissues handy. 

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Susan Meissner does it again - puts together an incredibly heartfelt book centered around a public event/tragedy with amazing characters.  I was so excited to have the opportunity to read and review this book thanks to NetGallery and the publisher.  The story centers around Sophie, an Irish immigrant, bravely carving her own path in America and moving to San Francisco for a marriage of convenience and the opportunity of forming a bond with her new step daughter.  As we find out her husband isn't what he seems - dodgy business dealings and more - she ends up forming relationships with two other women, with the stepdaughter Kat at the forefront of her decisions and actions. I really love how Meissner develops these strong women characters in a way that would have been cutting edge for the time they lived in but not out of place that it seemed unrealistic.

Susan Meissner has written another gripping historical novel that transports the reader to a long-ago time and place and brings it vividly alive.  Surviving San Francisco’s terrible earthquake is just one aspect of this tale of strong women from disparate backgrounds who find themselves sharing a common enemy. Her female characters are believable and compelling as they come together to confront the havoc wreaked by the sociopath who has put their lives and happiness in jeopardy. One of those books that was hard to put down.

Set in 1906, the San Francisco earthquake is central to this story. Sophie, a recent Irish immigrant living in a New York tenement, answers an advertisement in a newspaper for a man looking for a wife. Sophie moves to San Francisco to marry him. Upon meeting him, they go straight to City Hall to be married. Discovering he has a young daughter, she sets out to be the best wife and mother she possibly can be. Her husband's behavior is very odd, leaving them alone for days at a time. She meets a neighbor and they visit occasionally. She is befriended by the woman who ran the boarding house where the man and his daughter used to stay. This woman is very concerned about Sophie, but she will not say why. 

Sophie finds all manner of strange things - her husband's behavior, the walled-off area in the basement of the house and to cap it all, months later, a very-pregnant woman turns up on her doorstep, claiming Sophie's husband is also her husband, although he is going by a different name.  Then the earthquake occurs.  She and her stepdaughter and the other woman flee to safety. Do they make it? What happens to the husband? 

If you enjoy historical fiction, this book should be added to your reading list.

This is a book I read in 2 days. It's a poignant yet heartwarming story set before and after the devastating San Francisco earthquake of 1906.  With all the twists and turns, I couldn't put it down.  It showed how little control women at the time had over their lives and how friendships made them stronger.

Susan Meissner has crafted another wonderful historical fiction novel. This book is set in San Francisco just before and after The Great Earthquake of 1906. Sophie Whalen has traveled from New York to marry a man who placed an ad for a wife. Thus begins a fantastic tale of tribulation and triumph, love and loss, and a cast of characters who will evoke in the reader both admiration and antipathy.

I love that I can continue to count on Susan Meissner to deliver cleverly crafted, resiliently researched and compulsively readable historical fiction.  What I love in equal measure is that her books often focus on a lesser known chapter in history or a topic I know little to nothing about.

Her upcoming release, THE NATURE OF FRAGILE THINGS, take place during the tumultuous days following the devastation of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It follows the story of three women, including a mail order bride, that start out as strangers but whose lives are mysteriously connected through one man who is not who he claims to be. 

The story had me from the first page. It was a compelling blend of suspense, mystery and adventure mixed with themes of friendship, courage, loyalty and unrelenting love. The pacing was propelled by police interrogations strategically placed throughout the book. It totally worked because those sections had me waiting with baited breath to how the mystery would come together.  

It did not disappoint.

With the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire as a backdrop, Susan Meissner writes a compelling story about Martin Hocking, a man who advertises for a wife and mother to his young daughter.  Eager  to escape the poverty of her life in New York, Sophie gladly responds.  Initially, she is pleased at her new surroundings in San Francisco...an attractive house, Kat a daughter she can raise and a handsome husband.  Through a series of suspicious events, all is not as it appears.  The story about the earthquake and fire are fascinating; however, I wished the characters had more depth.  Parts of the book felt repetitive and rushed but overall, a perfectly good story.

I received an ARC thanks to #netgalley. I am a big fan of Meissner and her historical fiction worlds so I knew this book would not disappoint. It takes place in 1906 during the year of the great San Francisco earthquake with the dual timelines being several months apart that ultimately meet as you figure out the string of events leading up to and after the quake itself centering around Sophie and her daughter. The story flowed well and I was always eager to keep reading to find out what would happen next. Some people may disagree with the perhaps seemingly innocence/cluelessness of some of the women or  the audacity of the men but it's 1906 so it makes sense and seeing Sophie mature, learn and grow into herself is part of the journey.

I have had the pleasure of reading some of the best (soon to be published) books. The Nature of Fragile Things is absolutely number one! I’ve read Susan Meissner before, but this is maybe her best work. Thank you, Tall Poppy and Penguin Random for allowing me this opportunity.

Sophie Whalen Hocking is from Donaghadee County Down, Ireland. At nineteen she emigrated to New York City, but after two years she answers an advertisement for a wife and stepmother to Martin Hocking and his five-year-old daughter Katherine (Kat) and moves to San Francisco.


The arranged marriage comes with a few rules, including separate bedrooms. Sophie has plenty to eat, a nice warm three-story house, and money to budget; all things she yearned for as a child growing up in Ireland. Kat is a bonus and wonderful child, though she does not talk since the death of her mother.  Sophie immediately settles in as Kat’s stepmother and her gentleness eventually warms Kat to trust her.

Martin is an insurance salesman and travels away from home for long periods. Still, the relationship works for everyone. In April of 1906, while Martin is away, there is a knock at the door. The visitor, Belinda Bigelow, a woman about eight months pregnant has come to the Hocking residence in search of her husband, James. As the two women settle into tea, Belinda sees the wedding photo of Sophie and Martin on the mantle. Martin is the spitting image of James.

The earth begins to move for both women both literally and figuratively. That night the famous 1906 earthquake sets both women on a new course and future.

Susan Meissner weaves a tale of these women and the unraveling of the man they both know. Her knowledge of the earthquake of 1906 and how these women slept in tents while San Francisco burned all around them takes the reader directly to the scene. Her description of the food lines, those wounded and dead, the ruble, and the destruction of the city is almost unbelievable. She even cuts to the core of how this earthquake has shocked its victims, but then also recounts how the poor and rich react to the circumstances. Even the over-worked-walking-dead horses do not escape the eye of the author. The experience of Belinda giving birth hours after the earthquake in unspeakable surroundings and bringing life into the world of chaos is miraculous.

Then there is Martin/James. Who is he? The author knits together a bazaar story of a man neither women know. The details of such a cunning man are written in a format that is suspenseful and daunting. Her way with words is exciting and at times thrilling.  

I hope you enjoy her work.

It's possible that my favorite thing about this book is that it is not set during WWII.

Sophie moves to San Francisco to marry a man she has never met. She has her reasons, but it also helps that her life in the tenements in New York City is pretty bleak. So she steps off the ferry, meets her new husband, and immediately goes to city hall to get married. Can you imagine being brave enough to do that?

Months later, a pregnant woman turns up on her doorstep and she finds out that her life isn't exactly as it appeared. Then, as if she needs more disruption, the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake happens the next morning and she finds herself fleeing her home with her stepdaughter and a woman that is about to give birth.

This story is so compelling. The author did a great job with this. I was highly entertained.

This book grabbed my interest from the first chapter and I couldn’t put it down. While I’m not normally a fan of historical fiction, I loved this book. The plot was intriguing and I loved the characters, especially Sophie. Fantastic read, I highly recommend, and I’ll be looking for more to read from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for this advance reader copy of The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner in exchange for an honest review.

The Nature of Fragile Things is a book that you can't put down. I read it in one sitting. I have to admit I was not expecting the plot twist (I don't want to spoil it!) and was completely taken by surprise. I found myself feeling very empathetic and protective of the main female character. Overall, it was a great book and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes mysteries and historical fiction!

This was the perfect Pandemic read. It was fast-paced, had a few twists, and kept me turning the pages.. I also enjoyed reading the interesting historical background of the California earthquakes in the early 1900s. I'll look for others by this author. Thanks, NetGalley!

Another great historical novel by Susan Meissner.  Story follows an Irish woman with a mysterious past to 
 the time before the great San Francisco earthquake. She marries  a man she meets thru a newspaper ad and begins to build a family with he and his mute daughter.  A history lesson about the earthquake and how the people and city went to great lengths for survival and rebuild the city from ashes.   Several twists in the story will keep you reading to the finale.

This book grabs you from the beginning with an interview between the main character Sophie and the US Marshal and keeps you guessing until the end. As the book unfolds you learn about Sophie’s difficult background as well as her hope for the future. Unfortunately, Sophie connects with another man who is not living up to his promise, but this time her new husband brings along baggage of his own. Sophie is resilient and turns a chance encounter with a stranger into a deep friendship that helps her cope with the challenges of raising a stepdaughter who communicates very little. When the 1906 Earthquake hits San Francisco, the devastation offers new beginnings for the survivors in a way that was not predicted. 
“The Nature of Fragile Things” is a combination of historical fiction and mystery with themes of the true meaning of family and friendship woven throughout the story. The characters are well defined, and the reader will fall in love with the little daughter “Kitty Kat” as she is much wiser than her years. This book reminded me of “Escaping Dreamland” by Charlie Lovett as it is well researched, and the events are described in a way that makes you feel like you are living during these times. The sights, sounds, and smells of the 1906 Earthquake in San Francisco come to life and jump off the page. In the midst of all this excitement is a touching story of how women leverage their strengths and bond together to overcome insurmountable obstacles in the time of crisis. Susan Meissner has a gift of weaving beautiful prose to bring light to the darkest of times. This is historical fiction at its best.