Vera is an unusual type of orphan. Her mother, a madam of the fancier bordello in San Francisco, paid another woman, a swedish widow with a daughter of her own named Pie, to raise her. The novel is set in the 1906 San Francisco, the year of the great quake and fire. On the day of her fifteenth birthday, one of the few days that she is invited into her biological mother's house, she suffers a double disappointment. One from herself for betraying a very close person and from her mother who points out her lack of beauty. That night she felt like she lost her honor.
On the night of Caruso's performance a major earthquake struck San Francisco. The following fires killed 3,000 people. With the adoptive mother dead, Vera and her sister Pie decide to go to Rose's house (Vera's biological mother). She was nowhere to be found. The next days they functioned in survival mode. Vera was forced to grow and make decisions for everyone's sake, rebuilding her new reality from the ruins of a world gone forever, reborn from the ashes.
It's a beautiful story about resilience, not only of an individual but of an entire community.
Impeccable prose with two main characters: Vera and the city of San Francisco. The rest of the characters are as adorable as the protagonist.
I highly recommend this story to historical fiction lovers but if the genre is not your cup of tea the novel is a wonderful coming of age tale.
I'm giving it 5 out of 5 stars
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Turn of the century! Earthquakes! Bordellos! A bastard daughter of a madam! This book has everything.

And it's worth it. Every piece of this story is vital. Every moment that Vera lives through is part of her. She is a true sum of her parts.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you Netgalley for the copy of Vera in exchange for a review. This is not my typical pick for a genre, however, the description piqued my interest. It was much different than I originally expected but I fell in love with the story. I’m very glad I requested this book !

Vera has always wanted to be loved by her mother Rose, a madam who farmed her out to be raised by another woman. Now it's 1906 and she's fifteen, a girl wise beyond her years who loves birds and he foster sister Pie. Rose seems to be softening a bit, even getting tickets for Vera and Pie to hear Caruso and then the earthquake hits, throwing everything literally to the ground. Vera rescues Pie and manages to get to Rose's house, higher up in the city, where she sets up along with Tan, Rose's servant who has always been a thorn in her side. She eventually finds Rose and brings her home, with the help of the boy who becomes her first love. Vera's struggle to survive, to keep things going, is impressive. She, along with Tan, Tan's daughter, and some of Rose's girls, form a family which has all the issues families do. This wraps in the corruption of the city at the time as well as prejudice toward Asians and, of course, working women. I found myself pulling for Vera, who deserved better, especially from, no spoilers from me, those around her. It's a coming of age story, yes, but it's also a story of resilience and determination. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. It's an emotional page turner with a heroine I'll remember. For fans of historical fiction. Highly recommend.

Vera is a wonderful book, well fleshed out in her vulnerability and strength. Seeking the love of Rose, the madam of a brothel that's sent her daughter to be raised by Morie and Piper. She's freshly 15 years old and then a devastating earthquake hits San Francisco. Now she must build everything from the ground up for herself in San Francisco as it too rebuilds. She's a wonderful character created by the author that you root for. San Francisco feels lively and colorful, and overall this is a very impressive novel. Great work!

What a very exciting book this was! Vera A 15 year old girl who survives the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and subsequent fires.
I love the hardship she has to go through which overall shapes her into the woman she becomes!
This book is a wonderful historical fiction read and I loved it.

The blurb had me at San Francisco earthquake and daughter of a brothel owner! Love me some smutty historical fiction. This wasn't actually smutty at all though, just a great coming-of-age novel about young Vera and how difficult it was to survive after the earthquake. I enjoyed reading about familiar neighborhoods, but the bonds between people of different classes after the quake really spoke to me. Disaster changes a lot of things! Perseverance and work ethic seemed to raise a lot of Californians above their station after the quake.

In the early 1900s, San Francisco was still the Wild West, rampant with corrupt politicians and dominated by a seedy underside led by the madam, Rose Johnson. Her glamorous brothels are no place for a kid so she sends Vera, her illegitimate daughter, to be raised by the hardscrabble Morie and her daughter, Piper. But when Morie is in trouble and Piper’s engagement is in jeopardy, 15-year-old Vera realizes she needs her mother’s help. But then San Francisco is decimated by a terrible earthquake. Scrappy Vera finds herself responsible for a cast of characters from Rose’s world with hardly a penny to her name. Rose barely pays attention to Vera and Vera struggles to figure out her place in Rose’s world. Without any support from Rose, Vera takes control as she has to grapple with leadership, power and loyalty. She builds herself a new family as her beloved San Francisco rebuilds into a new city. // I loved the strong and determined Vera. I suspect it was only because she lived outside society’s expectations that she was able to take control of her own destiny. She reinvented herself with compassion and humor. Edgarian painted a vibrant picture of the early 1900s in San Francisco and peppered it with some colorful historical figures. I really enjoyed this story and the writing—there was a liveliness and energy to Vera’s story. This book comes out March 2.

Vera takes place in the days before and after the devastating and deadly 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It begins on the fifteenth birthday of Vera Johnson, illegitimate and unacknowledged daughter of Rose, proprietor of San Francisco's most notorious bordello and ally to the city's corrupt politicians. Rose pays Morie, a Swedish widow with her own young daughter Pie, to raise Vera as her own in exchange for a decent house and income to pay for the needs of the girls. Vera longs to be with her mother Rose, who only sees her in secret three times a year, because she wants to be loved by someone. After the earthquake, Vera and Pie, newly orphaned, find their way to Rose's home and band together with Tan, Rose's right-hand man, and his family to form an unlikely group relying on each other to survive. What follows are lessons about survival and hope, and finding one's own way when you least expect to come out the other side,

I liked the strength and vulnerability of Vera, a young girl who seeks the love of her madam mother while wanting to not be held down by the expectations of society. She wants to be loved and to find her place in the world despite the societal norms, which she thought might be loosened amid the all encompassing devastation and loss that leaves no family untouched. Vera's determination helps her rise from the (literal) ashes to become a young woman taking control of her life.

I thought some of the characters lacked development and couldn't understand their choices or how they enhanced the overall story. With others, I wanted more of them and their background. I felt like the author wanted acknowledge a little bit of everything that happened after the earthquake - from the military hospitals, to those fleeing the city, and the rounding up of the Chinese - without going into too much detail. This is a good story for lovers of historical fiction with a strong female protagonist. Good writing, good characters, and a likeable book.

Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for providing an e-ARC of the book. All opinions are my own.

An interesting historical fiction novel that I neither loved or hated. But I am glad that I read it, however it's not something that I would read again.

Vera was such a captivating story it was hard to put down. As a young girl Vera and Pie, the girl she was raised with and calls sister, face life after a horrific earthquake and devastating fires. Pie’s Mother dies in the quake. Vera’s mother is gravely injured when she was caught in the fires.
Vera at sixteen, has taken Pie to her birth mother’s home after the earthquake destroyed the home where they lived. The Gold House, survived the earthquake and was not burned by the fires. This is where Vera brought her mother Rose a well known and powerful Madam, to recover.
This story is full of survival, friendship, power plays, abandonment and love.
This will captivate you and I would recommend it for book clubs.

This story takes place in San Francisco in 1906 the time of the earthquake. Vera is 15 years old and the daughter of Rose, who is a madam of a brothel. She lives with a Swedish widow and her daughter who has an arrangement with Rose for financial support. This lady is killed the day the earthquake happens and Vera and her assumed sister set out to find their way to stay with Rose. Although they didn't find her right away the brothel was still standing so they decided to stay . Vera takes on a lot of responsibility for finding food, water and trying to stay safe. This is a great story with wonderful historical info as well as relatable characters. I highly recommend.
Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to read this incredible ARC for my honest review.

Wow. Thanks to netgalley for the arc of Vera by Carol Edgarian (pub date March 2). I’ll admit it took me a bit to get into this masterful piece of historical fiction, but once I was, I was hooked. This novel tells the story of 15 year old Vera Johnson before, during and after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It’s a coming of age story that made me sad and wistful and thinking about how things change. And the writing puts the reader right into the story.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I had hoped. I thought it sounded very interesting to read and as I love Historical Fiction I don't believe I had ever read a novel of the San Francisco earthquake. However, I found this author's writing style to not be descriptive enough for me. I couldn't see, hear, feel the city and the earthquake event in my mind's eye.
I did enjoy the character of Vera and her growth as she realizes she will need to be entirely responsible for herself in the aftermath of this horrific event and learns that people she cares about will desert her and others, she never imagined, will come to her rescue.

Stunning work of historical fiction! This coming of age story is set in San Francisco during the time of the great earthquake. A stunning portrayal of adversity, triumph, and the complex dynamics of a young woman braving impossible odds to find herself. Atmospheric slow burn rendition that drew me in right away; immersive and engaging.  Fantastic character development and beautifully rich writing make this book a pleasure to read.  I can see it appealing to a broad range of audiences.  Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to review this ARC in exchange for my honest review

Vera Johnson is fifteen when the 1906 San Francisco earthquake hits. How she survives and grows up along with the new
San Francisco is fascinating and heartwarming. A wonderful coming of age story.

This tale is told in the first person by Vera a daughter of a madam, Rose, but raised by Morie, a Swedish widow, with a daughter, Pie.
The earthquake changes all their lives. The survival in the aftermath...food, money. There is a wonderful cast of characters from Tan to Alma to Eugenie, daughter of the mayor, to Rose's house in Pacific Heights where Pie and Vera escape to as it was still standing. The description of the conditions after the quake are graphic. How 15 year old Vera is the default leader of this group and what she does is the story.
Read and learn

Vera by Caro Edgerian takes place right after the San Francisco earthquake in 1906 and the ensuing fires. Vera is the illegitimate daughter of a well known madame in the city. She has been living with and passed off as the daughter of a widower and her daughter since she was two years old, only seeing her true mother a few times a year. When their home is destroyed and her adopted mother killed by the earthquake, Vera and her "sister" head into the city to find her biological mother and hopefully a home.

There is an interesting mix of characters who Vera meets, doctors, Chinese, orphans, the Mayor, and ladies of the night. I truly enjoyed this mixture and the intrigue that went along with some of them. My only problem was that it took until about half way through the book before I cared about anyone. I have never read much about that time period in San Francisco, so I enjoyed the historical element more than the character development.

I was hard pressed to find a character who was likeable in this novel. I felt empathy for Vera who just wanted to be loved. Pie was pathetic and needed to grow up. Bobby, although helping the orphans was admirable proved to be a disappointing character. San Francisco during the earthquake and aftermath was portrayed realistically but the unappealing characters lost me. Just an okay story.

“Vera” is an evocative story about the San Francisco earthquake and its aftermath.

Vera has just turned fifteen, abandoned by her biological mother, a well-known madam. Vera is raised alongside Pie, the daughter, of a Swedish woman. Vera only sees her mother infrequently, which makes Vera obsessive with the world she is not allowed to be a part of. After the earthquake hits, it is up to Vera to find a way to survive as her world crumbles and burns around her. She quickly learns it is difficult to trust anyone. As a result, she is forced to create alliances with a colorful cast of characters, yet, at the same time, Vera goes through her own internal awakening.

Carol Edarian did her research, and shows the earthquake and its fiery aftermath through Vera’s eyes. I am new to the author but her mastery for immersing her readers into the devastation of burning city is amazing. As someone who has been to San Francisco many times, her picturesque descriptions pull you into the plot and it is easy to visualize the city I know as a ravaged inferno. Carol Edgarian writes at a lively pace; the story has many unexpected twists and turns. For the most part, the author manages to avoid predictability.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. This novel will be published March 2, 20221 and I highly suggest you add it to your TBR list.