This is the story of Vera, a 15 year old daughter of Rose, who owns the most prominent bordello in all of San Francisco. Rose has never really cared for Vera and has thrown her off on others to raise due to her personal love of money and greed. When an earthquake strikes, strong-willed Vera rises up and takes action. Quite frankly, the first 40-50% of the book was a complete blur and absolutely nothing happened until the earthquake. In the second half of the book you start to see Vera find herself and build herself up and that's when it gets better, but then it's over. If the book would have started with the second half, the story would have been great. Thank you to Netgalley and then publishers for the ARC.

I loved this book! I love historical fiction, and I love finding great historical fiction about events that I don't know much about. I vaguely knew of the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, and was so intrigued and interested by this book. It was so well written, and the characters really drew me in. I will definitely be looking for more books by this author, and I would definitely recommend this book. One of my favorites of the year so far! I received a free copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I have really been enjoying historical fiction of late, and this novel was no exception. When I read the synapsis, I was immediately taken by the subject matter of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the mention of the main character being the illegitimate daughter of a successful bordello proprietor.

That main character proved to be my kinda gal. There was a hardscrabble bravery to her that balanced her deep longings and disappointments. She was scrappy. I found myself cheering her on and wanting to protect her at the same time. It’s hard to imagine the amount of perseverance it took to make it through the turmoil that had filled her 15 years.

Vera Johnson is the bastard daughter of Rose, San Francisco’s most illustrious madame and owner of a legendary bordello called The Rose. She is passed off to a foster mother that Rose pays regularly and handsomely, but this does not buy Vera any warmth from either woman. She feels duly unwanted and only finds comfort in the relationship she forges with her adopted sister Pie.

The suddenness of the devastating earthquake of 1906 brings Vera’s two worlds together violently. She claws her way out of the rubble to an existence that lends her to great introspection and revelations about both herself and the people around her.

This book is ultimately a beautifully written novel about reinvention. Carol Edgarian masterfully ensconces us in the vibrant world of her characters that practically leap off the pages. I very much recommend this engrossing read!

Vera is a scrappy fifteen year old the year of the San Francisco earthquake and fire. The book features a city of prostitutes and thieves and dreamers who made the city in the first place and rebuilt it as well. I didn’t love the story, but others may.

This felt a bit like a mash-up of three other novels I've read recently, including on about the San Fran earthquakes. I think if I had picked this up last year, or even next year, I would have been sucked in by it. Picking it up right now, it just felt repetitive.

This lyrical historical novel is set around the big earthquake and fire in San Francisco in 1908. The main character is almost 15 year old Vera, who is the illegitimate daughter of Rose. Rose Is the owner of San Francisco Bordello with ties to corrupt politicians. This natural disasters forces Vera to grown up and take on responsibilities beyond her years as others depend on her for survival. This story will move you and keep you reading all though the night. Vera is a survivor in more ways than one.

I highly recommend this book! I would like to thank the publisher, #Scribner and #NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this wonderful book!

I wish the star rating system went higher than four stars. Basically books I like, I get four or five stars. Books that I am ambivalent about, but finish, I give three. I don’t think you’ll ever see me give a two or one star review because I refuse to waste my life finishing those books. I would like to give this book a 4.5 star as it is better than most four stars but not quite five. Historical fiction centering around World War II is all the rage right now and I am thoroughly sick of those books. They’re good reads but just too overdone. This historical fiction novel is set during the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Interesting characters and story which I found myself actually engaged in for the first time in a while. Thanks to NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

From the first page of this compelling historical novel, you can tell that title character Vera is a force to be reckoned with. She is confident in speech, well liked by her "sister" and well aware of the roles of the people she meets while navigating her city. She is also blissfully unaware of the great challenges she will face when her world, the San Fransisco of 1906, is literally shaken to it's core.
This well paced story has secrets to reveal, puzzles to solve and obstacles to overcome. Well worth the read. Thanks #Netgalley for the opportunity!

A beautifully written historical novel set during the tumultuous aftermath of the San Francisco earthquake. The brave protagonist and her friends take no prisoners in their quest for survival.

I found this book to be delightfully different than anything I have read this year. It takes place in the early 1900's before, during and after the great quake that flattened the city of San Francisco.. The descriptive passages are believable and shocking. It is the story of a young orphan who's mother, Rose,is a madam in the town's most famous bordello. Rose pays a young widow with a daughter to raise Vera. Vera gets a peek into her mother's life every Christmas when Rose asks to see her. On April 18, 1906, a devastating earthquake flattens and burns most of San Francisco. This story is interesting because it reexamines a piece of American history where 3,000 Americans died and many more were injured and lost their homes.

3.5 stars

Historical novel set in San Francisco in the early part of the century, during the great earthquake and fire. 15 year old Vera is the unacknowledged daughter of the madam of a popular brothel and she's been lodged with a family and supported by her mother. The San Francisco of that era is described well, both the glitter and the raw energy, and the corruption and poverty. The earthquake and fire scenes seem to be historically accurate and devastating. Vera's foster home and mother are gone, so she grabs her foster sister and goes hunting for her mother.

Vera is well drawn. She is independent, smart, calculating and savvy. She turns out to be surprisingly like her mother: unable to risk emotions and caring but instead just trying to make sure everyone has the basic necessities. In the aftermath of the disaster, Vera and a small group of people from the brothel band together and move into the nearly uninhabitable building, forage for food, and brainstorm ways to survive. Vera's mother Rose, severely injured, is hunted down by Vera and brought home.

This is really Vera's story -- gritty, poignant and practical. There are some actual historic figures from that era, including Mayor Schmitz, opera singer Enrico Caruso, and art collector Alma Spreckels. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for this honest review.

I haven't decided yet if I would purchase in my professional role, never the less, it is one that I will be recommending in my personal life! And, Thank you so much for allowing me to have access to the digital arc!
This is the second book I have read about the 1906 San Franciso earthquake recently. I have a special place in my heart for historical fiction, although they are usually so emotionally overwhelming that I need a rom-com break in-between books, and this one was no exception! Can't wait to recommend it to my friends!

What a tremendous story! Vera is the daughter of a whore, a child of the gold rush in San Francisco, and ultimately a survivor. She survives the Big One, dragging her made-family and friends along with her to live through the devastation. She outlives three husbands and all of the other survivors of the quake. Starved of a mother’s love, Vera manages to scrape together a family from the scraps left to her, even her most fierce enemy becomes an ally.

The shadows of 1906 still cast themselves across the San Francisco of today, and what a history it is!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Vera by Carol Edgarian is an awesome read set in San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake. My first book by Carol Edgarian. I will be reading more.

Vera by Carol Edgarian is fantastic. I grew up in San Francisco, and the 1906 earthquake was a seminal event in San Francisco history. I remember all the earthquake drills at school, learning about the quake and the resulting fires, and the re-birth of the city. Reading Edgarian’s new novel brought me back to the city I love. I have never read historical fiction about this event, and Edgarian weaves in real people to help set context. I found myself pulling up images of specific parts of town to remind me of the area, and reading about Mayor Schmitz and the photographer Arnold Genthe, who appears in one scene of the book. Vera is the main character, and we follow her in the days before and months after the earthquake. Edgarian has written a character that is a child of the time period in Vera, a 15-year-old whose mother, the infamous madam Miss Rose, has paid another woman to raise as her own. Vera only sees her real mother a few times a year, and desperately seeks her love and attention. When the quake hits, Vera has to summon her strength and take care of herself and her adopted sister, Pie. I do not want to give too much away because I read it only knowing about that much, and I feel the plot unfolds in ways that are unexpected. I did not want to put this down! In the end of the book, Vera is reflecting back on her life, and I love how Edgarian lets us know how Vera’s life turns out after the meat of the novel. I highly recommend this book. Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for the advanced reader’s copy.

I’m disappointed to say this book was nothing special.. I’d give it three stars if I was more neutral about it and thought it was “just fine”, but I’m dropping my rating down to two because I thought it was a waste of time. I am still not sure what the point of the book was. I recently read A Splendid Ruin which takes place in the same time period but that was fun and much more interesting. Vera (the book and the character) didn’t really have much of a plot/purpose. I got bored about halfway through but wanted to finish it by the end of the month so I could move on to another book.

I think my problem with the plot/lack of purpose is from the pacing of the book. I guess it makes sense to dwell on the aftermath of a massive earthquake when the central focus of the book is the earthquake, but it read more like a daily journal of a survivor than a fiction novel. The writing was also choppy and didn’t make sense a lot of the time, which is probably what turned me off the most. I had to re-read a lot of conversations to figure out who was talking or what they were trying to say. I am not sure if 1906 slang is a thing but based on the writing, I was giving the characters weird Southern, New York hybrid accents as I read along..

The research author Carol Edgarian did for this historical novel is evident. Vera is the bastard daughter of Rose, a wealthy madam of San Francisco. Rose pays the expenses of a widowed Swedish woman to raise Vera and the widow’s daughter. When the San Francisco 1906 earthquake happens, 15-year old Vera proves to be a tough cookie as she and her step-sister find their way to Rose’s mansion which survived the earthquake. It’s a look at how strong-willed people survived. Social standing didn’t matter for survival. Its also a historical look at how self-interest shaped the graft of politics as well as look at the Chinese population during this time. Readers will be caught up emotionally as Vera grows up and learns her value and strength as she refused to quit.

I could not finish this book. I couldn't get into the way it was written, more telling than showing and it just did not compel me to keep going. I thought the premise was great though!

Vera has two mothers, her biological
mother who is the madame of San Francisco, and her adopted mother. When the San Francisco earthquakes hit, it will test her loyalties and what she’s made of.

Okay, I rarely ever give half stars but after a lot of consideration, I decided to do so here. This was such an amazing read. I was entertained the whole way through. The only reason I didn’t give it five stars is because it felt a little rushed at times; mostly the end. This book was incredible and I would even say an epic saga. I think it would have been even better if it was a longer book... 336 pages was great but so much happened I feel it could be longer. Back to the amazing things about the book.. the main character is great. You become attached to her immediately and though she’s not the prettiest or sweetest character, she is the one you root for. Also, I will always love a book that has bordellos and harlots. This book did a great job of highlighting San Francisco before and after the devastating earthquake. It was a city some would call debauched, and others, like me... fun!

“For fifteen years I’d been waiting for a catastrophe greater than my birth. The quake gave it to me.”

“When you’re young, you think time is like water - you can put your hand in at will and swirl it around. But time isn’t like water. Time is like a quake - irrevocable and crushing. At best you can hope to ride it till it stops.”

Vera comes out 3/2.

What a pleasure to read! Many thanks to NetGalley and Scribnerbooks for the opportunity to read and review this novel. This is my first read by author Carol Edgarian but it will not be the last.

Our novel centers on the hero Vera Johnson and her life in the early 1900’s. Vera is a scrappy survivor who I instantly began rooting for. At just 15 years old, Vera survives the unimaginable, the great San Francisco earthquake and must learn to rebuild her life. An amazing cast of characters, of whom Dr. Sugarman was by far my favorite, supports Vera.

The main theme running through the work was Vera’s desire to be seen, heard and loved. Growing up with her foster family and all but abandoned by her mother Rose, SF’s more reputable madam, Vera struggles to find her place and purpose. There were two scenes, one with Morie in her room one night, and another with Rose in Part 3 that ripped my heart apart.

I highly recommend this book.