You may wonder how I could possibly love a book that has taken me this long to read but we have been super busy with summer vacation, soccer, back-to-school preparedness, work, and now renovations. I've been tired at the end of the day and using this excuse for how difficult it was for me to get into this book. Once I was able to give myself a proper sit-down and allow myself to have a bit of me-time with a book, I was hooked. I haven't read a story about this type of character, that I recall, ever. From the cover, to the story, to the characters, to San Francisco during a heat wave/smallpox epidemic (coincidentally, we were going through a heat wave ourselves here in Nova Scotia), I loved everything about this story. I felt everything Blanche was going through as a naïve new mother, as a woman with few rights trying her best to have some independence and pride for herself, as a young adult learning what strength, self-sacrifice, and love really means, and as a person who bonds with a friend for the first time. I could hardly wait to see what became of Blanche and several times had to stop myself from reading the last chapters. Loved it!!

At the end of the book is an explanation of how the story came about through real-life newspaper stories of The San Miguel Mystery. Even better! Emma Donoghue can write a story 😍