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    Frog Music
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    Frog Music
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    Frog Music
    Ebook465 pages9 hours

    Frog Music

    By Emma Donoghue

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    It is 1876, and San Francisco, the freewheeling “Paris of the West,” is in the fierce grip of a record-breaking heat wave and a smallpox epidemic. Through the window of a railroad saloon, a young woman called Jenny Bonnet is shot dead.

    The survivor, her friend Blanche Beunon, is a French burlesque dancer. Over the next three days, Blanche will risk everything to bring Jenny’s murderer to justice—if he doesn’t track her down first.

    The story Blanche struggles to piece together is one of free-love bohemians, desperate paupers and arrogant millionaires; of jealous men, icy women and damaged children. It’s the secret life of Jenny herself, a notorious character who breaks the law every morning by getting dressed: a charmer as slippery as the frogs she hunts.

    In thrilling, cinematic style, Frog Music digs up a long-forgotten, never-solved crime. Full of songs that migrated across the world, Emma Donoghue’s lyrical tale of love and bloodshed among lowlifes captures the pulse of a boom town like no other. Like much of Donoghue’s acclaimed fiction, this larger-than-life story is based on real people and documents. Her prodigious gift for lighting up forgotten corners of history is on full display once again in this unforgettable novel.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMar 25, 2014
    ISBN9781443429146
    Author

    Emma Donoghue

    Born in Dublin in 1969, and now living in Canada, Emma Donoghue writes fiction (novels and short stories, contemporary and historical including The Pull of the Stars), as well as drama for screen and stage. Room, was a New York Times Best Book of 2010 and a finalist for the Man Booker, Commonwealth, and Orange Prizes, selling between two and three million copies in forty languages. Donoghue was nominated for an Academy Award for her 2015 adaptation starring Brie Larson. She co-wrote the screenplay for the film of her novel The Wonder, starring Florence Pugh and distributed by Netflix.

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    Reviews for Frog Music

    3.5/5

    393 ratings57 reviews

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    • 5/5
      "Care to receive a bullet through your brains" ,Jenny quipped to St.Clair, "or have you got plans for this evening?"

      First things first.I feel the need to say from the start that I loved this book.I am an avid reader of everything that is raw and gritty and realistic,especially when it comes to Historical Fiction.However, I know that this novel isn't for everyone.If one is offended by the issue of prostitution,of abuse and if (very few) graphic sex scenes may disturb you, then this isn't a suitable read for you.If you consider these themes provocative, there are plenty of historical mysteries that will suit your tastes.But if you enjoy a combination of mystery and a brave glance to the extent a woman may act to save herself and try to correct the mistakes she has committed, if you look for a faithful representation of the USA during the 1870s, then give Frog Music a try.

      The time is 1876, the place is San Francisco.Blanche, a French young woman, is a famous burlesque dancer and an occasional night butterfly for the upper society.Following her from Paris, we have Arthur, her dandee paramour and overall gigantic leech and Ernest who is Arthur's lackey,companion in just about everything and second leech in command.Oddly enough (or maybe not...) life seems agreeable to these three Bohemians until Blanche meets Jenny,a young woman who dresses herself in men's attire and catches frogs for a living.It is precisely this encounter that causes Blanche to rethink and reevaluate her life as it is.The sad thing is that it takes a murder for her to wake up,but who's the victim and who's the perpetrator?This is something you'll have to discover yourselves,waiting until the final chapter.The depiction of the setting and the era is marvellous.Do not expect poetic language.It is not this kind of story.There is an afterword by Donoghue in which she explains the basis of her story,the actual events that inspired the novel and the way she shaped them to fit her vision.

      This book is vastly different from Room or The Wonder. Donoghue structures her mystery on a true crime case that remains unsolved and offers her own version of the events.I found this work just wonderful.Not only the mystery itself -which is guaranteed to have you guessing, then altering your opinion and then guessing again- but the way she inserts the themes of motherhood and independence in the centre of the story.Besides waiting anxiously for an explanation of the crime,I wanted to see how Blanche's fate would turn out.I won't hide the fact that I cared more for her than for the discovery of the guilty party and the motive.

      So motherhood and independence.What constitutes a "suitable" mother?To what extent would a woman go to claim and protect her child? And independence.Blanche believes she is free just because she earns her living by herself -regardless of the manner in which she gains the daily bread- but cannot see the leeches drinking her blood before it's too late.Jenny dares to go against the "rules" of society and is punished for that.The bottom line is that to gain independence, you'll have to sacrifice a part of yourself.It's an eternal battle where strength and honesty are required and even then it may not be enough.

      Donoghue creates powerful,often disturbing, stories and populates them with characters that may not be likeable or their actions may come in direct contrast with some of our principles, but they attract our attention.It doesn't matter whether we love or hate them.Blanche gathers a lot of hatred,judging from some of the reviews I've read.I can understand why,but I disagree utterly and completely (yeah for emphatic adverbs...)She may not be sympathetic per se, she may not be as clever as we'd like to see her, but I found her to be a realistic character and truthful to the era depicted.She reaches a point when she realises the futility of her way of living and tries to salvage what is good in her.Why doesn't she deserve a second chance?

      *rant warning*

      I'll tell you why.Because there are still some people who are afraid of a woman who's comfortable with her sexuality.And these people belong to both sexes.They utter the word "promiscuity" -which belongs to a bygone era- and retain a "holier-than-thou" attitude,pointing the finger.We are readers, we're supposed to be open-minded and accepting.Judging a character within the historical context and not by today's standards is a major "rule" in Historical Fiction,and yet somehow,there is a minority (thank God) who "seems" to forget this.Same goes with the critique on Jenny's character who is plainly brilliant and sassy and excellent.Well,of course, she needs to create a persona to live.This is the 19th century, any woman wearing trousers was arrested and put in prison.

      This came out longer than expected,but there were some things I felt the need to state.As I said in the beginning, this book isn't for everyone.I can't recommend it to all readers because it isn't suitable to all.However, it should be ideal to brave souls who don't shy away from challenging, disturbing books that make us feel uncomfortable and yet remain Literature in the true meaning of the word.Think of it as a mix of Dickens, The Crimson Petal and the White and the brilliant TV series Ripper Street.Just a bit more gritty and dirty and more powerful...
    • 5/5
      Wow! What a wild ride of a book. Written with all the bawdy bluster and showmanship of life in San Francisco after the gold rush, this story takes place over just a couple of weeks in the life of a former Parisian Circus performer, her lover and a woman she literally runs into on the street and the transformations of these characters is whirlwind. At the same time the author makes the two main characters, Blanche and Jenny so alive, sympathetic and believable that you find yourself living their lives along side them. Part murder mystery, part story of redemption, part scandalous news story, this book will make you wish you didn't have to get up to even go to the bathroom.
    • 3/5
      This was really grim. Set in San Francisco in the 1876, it fictionalizes an unsolved murder of a young unconventional woman, Jenny Bonnet who wears man's clothing and makes a living by catching frogs. The center of the story is Blanche Beunon, a French "dancer" and prostitute who followed her man, Arthur, from France after he was no longer to perform as a trapeze artist. Blanche thinks she is in love with Arthur, who also has a protege, Ernest Girard, who worships Arthur. Blanche works as a dancer is a brothel but also as a prostitute; she has been able to obtain enough funds to purchase the building where she lives and rents rooms to others.Blanche has given birth to a son, who has been "farmed" out by the madam. Blanche thinks that all is well until she has a chance meeting with Jenny who makes her begin to question the safety of P'tit, her son. Once she finds the horrible conditions he is confined to, she rescues him which puts all of her life in disorder. P'tit is malnourished and almost unresponsive. The depictions of the baby "farm" are difficult to read.Jenny and Blanche become friends of sorts before Jenny is murdered by a shot in the window where they are staying. The plot complicates as Blanche believes that Arthur is the murderer. The conditions and lives of all the characters are depressing. Although one wants Blanche to gain her son back and get on with her life, she constantly makes some bad decisions.The story probably would have been better without some of the over-the-top deprivation. The story does include many snippets of songs from the era.
    • 1/5
      About a third of the way through and I'm just not into it.

      Update: Just shy of half way through and it's due back at the library. No loss, because I was bored. Completely bored. Didn't like any of the characters, didn't care who shot Jenny, what happened to the baby, what would happen to Blanche. Nothing in it intrigued me. It's like the second scene, where Blanche meets Jenny, was written during a different time than the rest of the story. That scene had potential, but then the book went dull. Too much dribble. It just seemed like endless character development, except the characters were already fully identified and weren't changing much. Too little plot movement. Kind of like a soap opera.
    • 2/5
      Stopped reading after 55 pages. Slow-moving story and found I didn't particularly like many of the characters. Maybe I should have read on, but life's too short!
    • 3/5
      San Francisco 1876, Blanche an exotic dancer and prostitute lives with her lover Arthur and his friend Ernest. Blanche befriends Jenny Bonnet a cross dresser. Based on true events leading up to the murder of Jenny.I enjoy books based on true events and this particular tale I hadn't heard about before. This story starts with the murder of Jenny and then flits back and forth leading uo to her death. The story is full of lovely descriptions and historical events from the time. The story is quite seedy and is very sexual explicit at times. It demonstrates how women are treated and sometimes it's quite harrowing. This book however was too long. Slow going but then picked up pace and then slow again. I didn't know anything at all about Jenny Bonnet and her murder so I did look on the internet. When I discovered that the murder was unsolved I really lost interest. I did finish the book but with a lot of skipping pages towards the end.I have read Emma Donoughe before and loved Room and Slammerkin but only liked this book. The book for me was over written. I liked the historical detail and descriptions and Jenny was a very interesting character but i didn't care much for Blanche, Arthur and Ernest. An overlong book that could have been hundred or so pages shorter.
    • 4/5
      This was a book club choice, and although I'd read Room and enjoyed it, Frog Music didn't seem like something that would interest me. The first few chapters didn't convince me that I was going to like it much either, but I really wanted to stick with it. I'm glad I did, because while it's not the best book I've ever read and it's certainly not the happiest, it's very unique and quite interesting. I like how the author goes back and forth between the past and present and ultimately brings the two together, and none of the characters are quite who they seem. If historical mysteries interest you and you don't mind something a little outside the norm, this might be the book for you. Sex and prostitution are a main theme in the book, however, so if that makes you uncomfortable, then take a pass on this one.
    • 4/5
      Loved this historical fiction novel.Interesting story taking place in San Francisco during its early years involving a show girl, the lazy lover she kept and a female friendship that changed her life including the unsolved mystery murder of the female friend. Very well written, easy read that I would highly recommend to those who enjoy this type novel.
    • 5/5
      Frog Music is not a slow-paced and measured novel. It's set in San Francisco in 1875 during a heat wave and a smallpox epidemic and it begins with murder. Then it really gets going, featuring former circus performers, burlesque dancers, a cross-dressing woman riding a penny-farthing, French lullabies, a murder investigation, mob riots, and a missing baby. It's not a question of what happens on the next page, but how many things will happen. Emma Donoghue's historical novels are scrupulously researched, and Frog Music is no exception. But it wears it's research lightly, so that the sure-footed mastery Donoghue has of the time and place enhance the story she's telling. I found this novel to be a great deal of fun.
    • 4/5
      This book pulled me into it, the writing was so vivid and the characters so sensitively portrayed. Emma Donoghue has clearly done her research, something I found myself looking into after i'd finished my book, wanting to know more about this cast of characters who had once lived, breathed and been given a fictional afterlife.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this.

      The book is written out of order, switching back and forth between the narrative after Jenny's murder and the events that led up to it.

      Blanche is perhaps not always likeable, but I don't read books to find a friend. I read books to discover someone interesting, a good story, and I am so fed up of the idea that all female characters have to be nice to be worth reading about. Women have flaws, they commit crimes, cruelties, they can be selfish and mean. We are as complex as men, and deserve to be portrayed that way in fiction.

      I love stories set in the 19th century, and stories that look at the little boxes we are put in based in our apparent gender, so this was always going to work for me.
    • 3/5
      Based on an actual crime that took place in late 19th C. San Francisco, Frog Music in its audio form may be music to the ears of frogs but it didn't appeal to me.Overwrought Southern, Western, and French accents distract and annoy rather than enhance this presentation, IMO. However all fault doesn't lie with the recording. The book itself is hard to like being mundane, predictable, and peopled by characters hard to identify with or care about beyond the dead victim who's killed off in the beginning of the novel.As for writing style, there are plenty of cliche phrases, obligatory sexual scenes, and nods to the brutality of the Old West, plus constant reminders that San Francisco is steaming under a heat wave. But it's never a good thing when the climate setting of a novel sizzles more than the plot as it does in this case.
    • 2/5
      I'm sorry I entered and won the contest for FROG MUSIC from bestsellersworld.com. If I hadn't, someone else could have won this book. They might have enjoyed it. I didn't.Other reviews of this book say it is one woman's investigation of the murder of her friend. I found that is untrue. Blanche, a dancer and whore, did not actively try to solve the mystery of who killed Jenny, the pants-wearing (a crime in 19th century California) woman who ran into Blanch with a "two wheeler," the tall bicycle with the big front wheel. Rather, Blanche figured things out when facts presented themselves.The good: this is historical fiction and almost all the characters are real. Although their details are fiction because historical records are unclear, they really existed at that time.The but: too much repetition and too much wordiness. I was bored.
    • 2/5
      Story about a group of misfits that live on the fringes of San Francisco at the turn of the century. I found some of the story very hard to follow, switching back and forth between time periods. Blanche, the main character developed a backbone at the end of the story, but I wanted to shake her a lot during earlier scenes. Not certain if I'll read any further works by this author or not,
    • 5/5
      Emma Donoghue does a bang-up job with historical fiction about complicated women. This one, about a burlesque dancer and prostitute who befriends a woman who catches frogs for restaurants, is based on a real murder in 1876 San Francisco. It's a riveting page-turner with a rich historical setting. The dancer, Blanche, is typical of Donoghue's flawed, sometimes infuriating heroines. You cannot help but sympathize with her even as you shake your head at many of her choices. While definitely a fiction, the book benefits from Donoghue's extensive research. The Afterword, which describing many of the facts behind the fiction, is definitely worth reading.
    • 3/5
      Great concept, and structure - however, despite all the research, think the book was padded out. Each section hits it's denouement about 10 pages before it finishes.
    • 3/5
      Strange but interesting novel about the early days of San Francisco. Interesting characters and plot twists that keep you guessing. And interesting read, but not really beach read material. You have to pay attention to understand this novel.
    • 2/5
      Historical fiction based on an actual murder in San Francisco in the 1870's. I listened to the audiobook and found it difficult to track the different time periods, as it switches from the days immediately before and after to the murder, to the months leading up to the murder.
    • 2/5
      Set in San Francisco after the gold rush, this is based on the bare bones of the murder of Jenny Bonnet. Our heroine is Blanche, a burlesque dancer/prostitute. A frustrating book in that the story is gripping, but some of the writing is lazy or anachronistic. On the plus side, the structure places us near the end of the story. Chapters alternate with looking back at what got us to this point, and inching forward from our starting place. The real murder was never solved, but Donoghue gives us a taut story of how it might have happened. Too bad the character of the murdered girl is so poorly drawn. As well, this is one of those books where the author has done a great deal of research into the period, and taken pains to show that research. Our murdered Jenny (in the flashback chapters) is always providing explanations for why the city works the way it does. Such explanations don't feel in line with her character and come off as clumsy exposition. As well, our heroine Blanche is in love with a horrible man who treats her about as badly as can be imagined. We can see from the get go that he's horrible. It's fine that Blanche can't see it, but what is missing is a reason _why_ Blanche can't see it. Love is blind only goes so far. Still, the plot is gripping and if you're a Donoghue fan, give it a read.
    • 4/5
      Blanche has been in San Francisco for a year and a half, having moved from Paris with her lover and his best friend. She supports the two men and their high living with her exotic dancing and prostitution, and is happy and lusty as the novel opens. Her meeting with Jenny, the woman who dresses like a man and flaunts conventions, changes her outlook and causes her to investigate the whereabouts of the baby she has farmed out for care. A murder midway through the book increases her dissatisfactions andf turns her life topsy-turvy. To my surprise, this story is based on real people and situations and the setting was indeed interesting. However, the dialogue seemed stilted at times, and in my opinion the narrative could have been edited to be more taut and suspenseful.
    • 4/5
      This certainly was a novel novel. Told from the point of view of a 1870's French prostitute in San Francisco at a crisis point in her life: she makes a female friend who challenges her values, especially about her "care" for her infant, and then the friend is murdered. Blanche lives a very hedonistic lifestyle, and does not necessarily think clearly. This is not a fault of the author's writing, however, but clearly part of Blanche's personality. Yes, some very quirky characters here.I read this pretty much in one day (an all-nighter). When I got to the end, I found the author's afterword, which explains her sources. Lo & behold, this is based on true facts (of course, details left to the author's imagination). Since I'm a folk music fan, I enjoyed the snippets of songs, and the added Song Notes at the end.
    • 4/5
      While this book is not as compelling as Room by Donoghue it is well-written. The friendship that is at the heart of the book doesn't last long but it has a profound effect.The book starts with a murder. Jenny Bonnet is shot through a window while her friend, Blanche Beunon, is sitting next to her trying to undo a knot in her laces. Blanche vows to find out who killed Jenny and starts reviewing her interactions with Jenny. It started only a few weeks previously when Blanche was almost run over by Jenny on her bicycle. Jenny wears men's clothing and makes a living by catching frogs for restaurants. It is against the law for women to wear men's clothing and Jenny has spent time in jail for this. Blanche, on the other hand, is a good-looking French woman who is a burlesque dancer and prostitute. Blanche, her lover and her lover's best friend who were all circus performers in France came to San Francisco when her lover was injured in an accident. In San Francisco Blanche earns the money for the trio and the two men gamble it away. Blanche had a child about a year previously but the child is being raised on a farm (or so Blanche believes). Jenny's questions about this arrangement cause Blanche to investigate. She is horrified to find her child being raised in squalor with many other children and she takes him away with her. This is not to her lover's liking. In between Blanche's recollections we also learn what happens to her over the three days after Jenny's murder. As horrific as the circumstances leading up to the murder are they almost pale in comparison to what Blanche has to deal with after.I felt like shaking Blanche at times but Jenny was delightful. If Ms Donoghue ever chooses to write a prequel revolving around Jenny I would read it.
    • 1/5
      Couldn't get into it.
    • 3/5
      I both liked and disliked this book at the same time. What I liked: The historical facts about the city and the time period I found very interesting. I lived in San Francisco and her description of the city back then I could really picture it. I found the story unpredictable which was refreshing. The was it was written really added to the unpredictability of the plot. The way the author moved back a fourth in time gave me one piece of the puzzle at a time and kept me wanting more. What I didn't like: While the French was important to really paint the picture of immigration in the city, the unfamiliar language made me have to stop and go a lot. The flashbacks also were important and enjoyable, but in the beginning I had a harder time with it when I wasn't fully familiar with the character just yet. I don't want to spoil anything so I will be vague, but who ended up killer her and why...was disappointing.
    • 3/5
      I loved Room, so it's hard to compare. I didn't know what to think until reading the Afterword where I find that these are all real characters with a fictionalized story filling in gaps. While I see the creativity that this required, I found myself often bored and wanting the story to move along. However, the descriptions effectively captured the life and difficulties of a French burlesque immigrant in San Francisco in 1876 - during the extreme heat wave and smallpox epidemic. Learning that she'd trusted all the wrong people turned her life on end, but resulted in her finding her way back to herself. 3.5 stars.
    • 5/5
      This is a truly wonderful book! I absolutely loved it. The setting is 1846 San Francisco. The book is based on a true story and the characters in the book, with the exception of three or four, are real historical characters. The book is also an expose of a true crime that occurred in a little railway town outside of town. San Francisco in 1876 is a boom town and a real melting pot of immigrants who have come for work and to try to find new lives in order to escape the events occurring in Europe and Asia. It's a scorching hot summer in San Francisco that year. The main voice in the book is Blanche Beunon, a very popular burlesque dancer. The book is about Blanche and her colourful, but very sad life. She is living with a ne'er do-well by the name of Arthur and his companion Ernest. The two men are dandies about town and they are quite happy to live off the proceeds of Blanche's earnings as a burlesque dancer and sometime lady on the town. Blanche is hurrying back home after a performance one day and is bowled over by a girl on a high-wheeler bicycle. Her life changes forever from that point. Jenny Bonnet forces Blanche to reexamine her life and some of the choices that she has made. We follow Blanche as she reclaims the son that she had given up a year ago. All of a sudden Blanche is thrown into a confrontation with her paramour because he doesn't want the baby around even though he is is son. Jenny continues to force Blanche to look at things with a different eye and Blanche is suddenly on the run for her life. The book is so well-written and so realistic. Blanche is a tragic heroine and it was difficult to watch her fall from grace, but wonderful to see her as she finds the strength to pull herself up out of the gutter after the tragic episodes that occurred in September 1876. Ms. Donaghue is pitiless in bringing out the emotions of her readers and wringing them out. I find that when I read this book as well as her bestseller Room that I truly lived in the story and didn't want to be bothered with things happening in the real world. It's a book that demands to be read like that - all-consuming and real.
    • 5/5
      I studiously avoided reading any reviews or mentions of Emma Donoghue's latest release, beyond the publisher's synopsis. I knew Frog Music would be brilliant and I wanted to discover and savour the book with no spoilers. I spent every spare minute for two days devouring Frog Music. And, just as I knew I would - I loved it. Donoghue returns to the past in Frog Music, taking us back to San Francisco in the sweltering summer of 1876. A summer that also sees a smallpox epidemic hit the city. French born Blanche makes her living as a burlesque dancer, supporting herself, her lover and most often her lover's companion as well. And if she sometimes does more than dance? Well...."She never exactly intended to be a soiled dove (that curious euphemism), but neither can she remember putting up any real objection. She stepped into the life like a swimmer entering a lake, a few inches at a time." Blanche seems to be happy with her life, until the day she literally runs into Jenny Bonnet and discovers that "this is the friend Blanche has been waiting a quarter of a century for without even knowing it". Neither knows that this chance meeting will end in Jenny's death. (No spoilers faithful readers - this happens in the first few pages of the book) Blanche is determined to find out who killed Jenny, even as her own life spirals out of control. That's the bare bones premise of Frog Music, but there is so much more to the book. Donoghue deftly explores sexuality, love, parenthood, friendship, feminism, abuse and more in a richly detailed setting. And it's a good whodunit as well. Blanche is a complicated character. She seems oblivious to how she is being used, yet has occasional flashes of clarity. My thoughts on her changed as the book progressed. At first, I didn't engage with her and viewed her quite dispassionately. But as I read further, I was quite sad at her self-deception, then sorry for her as more of her life was revealed, disappointed with some of her choices, then happy as she began to take charge of her own life and by the end was mentally urging her forward, hoping for the ending I wanted. It is much easier to define how I felt about Jenny. I loved her - her joie de vivre, her happiness, her curiosity, her engagement with those around her and the world. The supporting characters also elicited strong reactions from this reader - particularly Blanche's lover Arthur - whom I despised. Donoghue slowly plays out the story of Blanche and Jenny in now and then chapters, with a little more revealed each time, sometimes in a single phrase or sentence, connecting the events of those six weeks. Donoghue's descriptions of time and place had me vividly imaging myself in the heat, the dirt, the dust, the clamour, the colours, the grit and the fear that was 1876 San Francisco. I had to really stop myself from flipping ahead to see the final pages. I desperately wanted to know who the killer was and where Blanche would end up. I have to say, the murderer was not who I thought it might be. Donoghue plants many red herrings along the way. The title is clever as 'frogs' and music figure many ways into the novel. Donoghue has compiled a collection of the songs quoted in the book. There are smatterings of French phrases and words throughout Frog Music as well - a glossary is also included. But what is most fascinating is that Frog Music is based on fact. The time, the players and the events are all real. Jenny Bonnet was murdered - but the case was never solved. "Then, again, the explanation Frog Music offers of this still unsolved murder is only an educated hunch, which is to say, a fiction." I enjoy everything that Emma Donoghue writes, but I have to say my favourites are her historical books - a story taken from a bit of history and woven into a tale of what was and what might have been. Definitely recommended.
    • 5/5
      First let me get this out of the way, I LOVED this story! Author, Donogue takes a true crime story from history and breathes new life into it. The reader is taken to San Francisco in the late 1870's. It is an unruly city where almost anything goes and perfectly suited to our heroine, Blanche Beunon, a French showgirl slash prostitute. Early in the book, her friend and I think possibly one of the most memorable characters I've ever met, Jenny Bonnet is murdered. At first saddened that this character was out of the picture, turned into joy when Donogue brings her back in flashbacks. You see, as Blanche tells the story of their relationship and that of her other seemly and questionable compatriots the reader slowly learns why there was a murder that night and who the party is that is responsible. Donogue's writing is atmoshpheric and takes you back in time and placing you on the dusty raucous streets of San Francisco. Khristine Hvam narrated the Playaway version and she was simply marvelous. Very highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      A historical novel by the author of the best-selling ROOM....a departure from Room... to late 19th century San Francisco...Chinatown....one that I enjoyed...though warning: bawdy tale of friendship of two women... atomospheric and lovely....
    • 4/5
      This book pulled me into it, the writing was so vivid and the characters so sensitively portrayed. Emma Donoghue has clearly done her research, something I found myself looking into after i'd finished my book, wanting to know more about this cast of characters who had once lived, breathed and been given a fictional afterlife.