Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for the ARC of The Winthrop Agreement.

The premise of this book was interesting but I don't think it was executed very well. At times it felt more like a series of vignettes about Mimi's life rather than a cohesive story and the attempts to weave in historical events were executed especially poorly. The time span of the novel is too great with heavy emphasis on Mimi's mother's life at the beginning that could have been edited out. Frederick was an evil character with no redemptive qualities and Mimi was rather boring. The side characters didn't seem to age despite the novel taking place over a 30 year time span.

Thank you Harper Perennial and NetGalley for the eARC of The Winthrop Agreement. All opinions in this review are my own.

DNFed at 17%

Unfortunately, I could not continue reading this book. After getting 17% of the way through, there wasn't a strong connection between the two storylines yet. I didn't know how much longer I would have to keep reading about Frederick's abuse of both animals and people to get to the part where they do converge. The mystery still intrigues me but not enough to continue reading.

Part history, part romance, with a twist of gothic, The Winthrop Agreement is a spellbinding tale of a determined heroine who will entrance Bridgerton and all historical fiction fans.

DNF at 138 pages

Thank you to Harper Perennial for this eARC! I seem to be in the minority of not liking the book 😅

The story is mostly told through Mimi’s POV but there are some chapters from other characters perspectives like Rivkah, Lottie, and Frederick.

It paints a vivid picture of Gilded Age New York City, which is a time period I usually love, but at times it was too descriptive and made the story drag. Some things were unnecessary, there was a whole chapter of 8 year old Miriam going to the library? Like what was the point of that? So many chapters felt like little side quests that didn’t add to the plot or character development.

The book was way too long and should’ve been condensed because then maybe it would’ve held my interest. A lot more telling than showing, with overly described and alliterative run on sentences made me decide to ultimately DNF. I did keep reading longer than I would have normally, and luckily it did start to get better around the 25% mark but then it quickly declined again around 36%.

Frederick is creepy as hell, I hated reading his chapter. The other characters were fine but again there was so much telling that I didn’t feel I really got to know/see the characters. Since I’m in the minority opinion, it could just be me and others will love the book 🤷🏻‍♀️

Since I DNFd I won’t be posting to my social media/blog or retailers as that would be unfair and not provide a full picture of the book for other potential readers

1893

Rivkah Mitmanovitch, 15, has sailed to New York harbor to meet Jacob, her husband. She’s pregnant, but he doesn't show up to meet her. So, she goes to find Lottie Aaron whom her mother told her to turn to. Lottie takes her in and finds her a job. She soon gives birth to a baby girl she calls Miriam, but is soon nicknamed Mimi. She finds a room to rent while she does sewing in a factory, in addition to doing sewing and alterations in her home. Mimi takes after her and her seamstress talents soon grow.

One day, Mimi meets Frederick Winthrop who is the younger son of the super wealthy Winthrop family. A naive girl of 15, he seduces her leaving her pregnant. After her mother dies, she continues to sew and gives birth to a baby boy she names Matthew. Soon she is thrown out of her apartment as the owner wants to tear the building down. It turns out the owner is none other than the disgusting Frederick who has some very evil ways. His older brothers try to make him settle down in the family's company but he goes his own ruthless way while his brothers are philanthropists. As it happens, Lottie works as a bookkeeper for the Winthrop family.

When Lottie confides in the older brothers about Mimi and Matthew, they step up to find them a nice home and see that it is furnished and set up for her to open her own couture shop. But, she must sign the Winthrop Agreement promising to never tell the truth about her and Frederick or Matthew’s relationship to the family.

I found this to be a very good story that was well-written with well-created characters. The author’s attention to detail with regard to fashion especially for the time period was excellent. In addition, her descriptions about the hardships that people faced then was well done. Enjoy!

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A woman raised by a single mother in the dregs of NY working in factories as a seamstress for pennies is determined to be a designer. She falls victim to a rich man who gets her pregnant, but his family buys her silence.

The Winthrop Agreement by Alice Sherman Simpson comes out next week - November 21st and it's a historical fiction set in the early 1900s in New York City.

When Rivkah arrives pregnant at Ellis Island her husband is nowhere to be found so she goes to find her friend Lottie who lives in the Lower East Side and she quickly finds a job at a sweatshop. Rivkah is determined for her daughter Mimi to have a better life. Fifteen years later Mimi aspires to be a dressmaker and when she's seduced by the rich Frederick Winthrop. To avoid scandal she signs an agreement which helps set her up for her dreams.

This is one of my favorite periods in history so I was looking forward to reading about a young immigrant and the experience of living in a tenement on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

I liked Rivkah and her experiences as a new immigrant and the first half of the book and Mimi's determination to live her dreams but it weirdly became a murder mystery towards the end and I felt that that plot took away from the main storyline. I also loved Lottie and wanted more on her! A lot was going on in this book and it felt too unbelievable at times for me.

This book felt so disjointed, like it wanted to tell so many stories, but glossed over all of them in an effort to fit. Even one or two of these concepts would have been great, but it doesn’t give the reader a chance to truly care for the characters in that moment before moving on.

The story of immigrants working in NYC sweatshops and the sacrifices and choices they made to survive and thrive. The latter portions of the book held my attention and vaulted my rating up to 3 star. I enjoyed reading about the various NYC locations as well as the Hamptons and other Long Island settings.

The story largely follows Mimi the teenage daughter of a single mother who followed her brand-new husband to America only to find that he disappeared and was not at the dock to meet her off the boat. Mimi, her mother, and their friend Lottie navigate the perils of late 19th century NYC. Mimi and her mother work as seamstresses while Lottie is a bookkeeper for a very wealthy family, the Winthrops.

On this backdrop, Mimi becomes entangled with the Winthrop family herself and they play a prominent, if tangential, role in her decisions throughout her life. I found this to be a unique portrayal of the immigrant story and appreciate the opportunity to read the ARC.

This was more historical fiction than historic romance. There was a romantic plot but the book was more about her than the romance. It was therefore not as interesting to me as it could have been. Well written, but ultimately, not for me.

A young Jewish woman is born in poverty but is determined to rise to the heights of society.

In 1893, pregnant bride Rivkah survives the long journey from Lithuania to the United States to start her life with her new husband Jacob who had travelled ahead. When he is not waiting for her at Ellis Island when she arrives, she struggles to make her way to the Lower East SIde and the only other person she knows in America, her girlhood friend Lottie. Lottie, it turns out, has also been abandoned by her husband….he went out one day on an errand and never came back. This is hardly the American life of which they had dreamed, but both work hard and are able to survive and make a life for themselves. Working at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory is grueling labor in horrible conditions, and Lottie is determined to escape that life. She studies to be a bookkeeper even as she works at the factory; ultimately she is able to find work in that capacity with the wealthy and socially prominent Winthrop family. Rivkah, whose own dreams were shattered by Jacob’s abandonment of her, is determined that her new baby, Miriam, will have a better life than her own. With Lottie’s encouragement, Rivkah too breaks away from life as a factory worker, using her seamstress skills to start her own alterations business. As Miriam grows up, she exhibits Lottie’s ambitions and Rivkah’s talents with the needle. She is fascinated by fabrics and colors and designs, and dreams of a more glamorous life. Unfortunately for her, she catches the eye of Frederick Winthrop, the youngest son of the family for whom Lottie works, who is a nasty fellow indeed (killing small animals as a child is never a good sign). He uses his charm to pursue the still-underage Miriam, who now calls herself Mimi, ultimately persuading her to come to his rooms where he plies her with liquor and seduces her. His goal accomplished, he moves on to the next beautiful young innocent whom he can corrupt, leaving Miriam confused and, sadly, pregnant. Like her mother before her, Mimi is left alone to bear and raise her child by herself. When Lottie discovers who the man was who put Mimi in this predicament, however, she is able to use her connection to the Winthrop family to appeal to Frederick’s older, and far more honorable, brothers. Aware of their brother’s pattern of despicable behavior and eager to avoid a scandal that would tarnish the family name, the elder Winthrops arrange for Mimi and her son Matthew to have a home in a better neighborhood and the funding necessary to live comfortably and open her own business. The skills she learned from her mother coupled with her own talent and flair for design lead her to success in the world of couture, designing dresses worn by women in high society during the Gilded Age. Can she in fact live the life of which she has dreamed for so long, or will she attract the eye of the evil Frederick for a second time and be ruined yet again?
There is much in this novel to enjoy. The author describes the life of an immigrant on Eldridge Street: the often squalid living conditions, the brutal conditions under which many had to work just to survive, and in particular what women and children struggled with both inside and outside of the home. How did people cope with the harsh realities that awaited them when they arrived, often with no money and not speaking English, to find that the America of their dreams did not exist? Some like Rivkah became bitter and hardened, abandoning their own dreams but working hard to better their children’s lives. Others like Lottie and later Mimi clung fiercely to their ambitious plans and some, with hard work and in some cases luck and quirks of fate, brought them to fruition. The author’s descriptions of the building where Mimi grew up, the sounds and smells of the neighborhood, the colors and textures of the clothes Mimi designs, were incredibly vivid. The contrast of the characters of Lottie and Rivkah was effective in giving Mimi the grounding to pursue her dreams. It did seem to me that the author tried to not only tell the story of a young immigrant’s rise from the tenements of the Lower East Side to the salons of Millionaire’s Row, but also a thriller with a devious and deviant psychopath who targets and stalks vulnerable, naive young women. The denouement of the latter part of the story at the end of the book seemed more rushed than quick paced; I would have preferred perhaps to have the character of Matthew be more developed, or that of Daniel, Mimi’s ultimate love interest. Overall, though, I so thoroughly enjoyed inhabiting the world which the author brought to life that I would still recommend this novel to other readers, particularly to those who enjoy the works of Barbara Taylor Bradford and Barbara Delinsky as well as those who like the Bridgerton/Upstairs Downstairs genre. Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for allowing me access to an advanced reader’s copy of The Winthrop Agreement in exchange for my honest review

I'm a huge fan of historical fiction (think Kristin Harmel, Martha Hall Kelly, Kristin Hannah) and had high hopes for The Winthrop Agreement. Sadly, those hopes were quickly deflated. The historical aspects were merely blips on the radar.

As another reviewer commented, it read like an outline. The story line often felt disjointed, lacking character development and an overall flow.

I don't want to give away details, but I feel as though there needed to be more character development, especially as it relates to Mimi, the main character. How did she feel when her mom passes? What was it like to give birth at such a young age?

Overall, I didn't think the book flowed well. I made it to the end, but struggled to enjoy the book.

I am, however, grateful for the opportunity to review the ARC and want to thank NetGalley and Harper Perennial for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

#TheWinthropAgreement #NetGalley

Rivkah Milman is just one of the thousands of young women who fled their homes in Eastern Europe in the late nineteenth century, looking for better prospects in New York—where the streets, people said, would be paved with gold. In Rivkah’s case, she is fifteen and pregnant, sailing to join her husband, who doesn’t even bother to meet her at the docks.

Rivkah struggles, raising her daughter in a tenement and keeping that shoddy roof over their heads through endless hours of sewing piecework for a sweatshop. But tough as Rivkah’s life is, this is really the story of her daughter, Miriam, who through a colossal but familiar misjudgment when she too is fifteen falls under the spell of Frederick Winthrop, a rich and immoral playboy who prefers underage girls. When it becomes clear that Miriam is bearing Frederick’s child, her family friend succeeds in cutting a deal with the Winthrop family, most of whom are wealthy philanthropists desperate to avoid the scandals strewn in Frederick’s wake. So long as Miriam agrees never to tell anyone—including Frederick—who fathered her child, the family will support her and her son.

Miriam, who adopts the name Mimi as she moves into her new life, has always longed to become not just a seamstress but an haute couture designer. But the closer she comes to achieving her goals, the more contact she has with the wealthy Winthrop family. Alice Sherman Simpson keeps us on the edge of our seats as we wait to find out how these competing priorities will work themselves out.

I plan to host an interview with Alice Sherman Simpson on New Books in Historical Fiction (link below) in November.

Adequate historical fiction, but not as much sense of place and time as I like in the genre. A bit melodramatic and obvious. For fans of Fiona Davis and Marie Benedict it will read-a-like.

I'd like to thank the publisher, NetGalley, and the author for a chance at reading this book.

Another reviewer brought this up - how juvenile the prose was and how it was riddled with lack of depth / feeling. I only made it 25% into this book before I realized I was not going to enjoy it. I didn't find it very gothic, either.

Thank you HarperCollins Publishing and Netgalley for my ARC of The Winthrop Agreement. This book was like a warm hug. I couldn’t put it down. Mimi felt like a very good friend and I wanted to know how her story turned out. She would stop at nothing to make her dreams come true despite getting entangled with a powerful family. Frederick was truly creepy and I was holding my breath that she would be free of him. The characters, the story, and the setting of early 20th century New York was absolute perfection. 5/5 stars ⭐️.

I'm amazed that so many people—beta readers, editors, agents—read this and thought, Yes, it's worthy of publication. As an outline for a novel, or maybe a first draft, it has potential, but... Major events are glossed over (the protagonist, Mimi, gives birth at age 15 or 16—there seems to be some discrepancy—apparently alone, and then boom! she's happily bouncing a healthy baby boy; a major character dies and after a paragraph of weeping, Mimi goes on her merry way). We're told that Mimi is charming, smart, etc., but given little proof. Things happen, lots of things, but except when necessary for plot purposes, they leave little impact on the characters.

And so many telling details, the sort of details that make a novel come alive, are omitted. How did Mimi happen upon Matthew as the name for her son? It's not one she's likely to have heard down in the Lower East Side at that time. How did she lose her accent so that no one guessed she was from there? Did she light yahrzeit candles for her mother? Did Matthew have a bris? Why did Jonathan take such an interest in Matthew? How did she manage to be completely unaffected by World War I—I don't think the war is mentioned even once. I could go on and on...

Despite my disappointment, I'd like to thank NetGalley and Harper Perennial for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The enchanting and sweet story of a woman who decided nothing would stop her from living her dreams, even when the world told her she had to settle.

The Winthrop Agreement by Alice Simpson is a gripping historical novel that takes the reader on a journey through the Gilded Age in New York City. The plot is engaging and full of surprises, with a touch of gothic mystery that keeps the reader guessing until the end. The Winthrop Agreement is a tale of love, betrayal, and redemption that will appeal to fans of historical romance and anyone who enjoys a well-crafted, character-driven story.

While the novel is well-written and engaging, there are moments when the pacing lags, and some plot points could have been more fully explored. Overall, I would give The Winthrop Agreement 4.5 stars, as it is an excellent addition to the genre of historical fiction and a worthy read for fans of the era.