Frog Music
I've been meaning to read more of Emma Donaghue's work ever since I devoured Room a few years ago. I liked that novel so much that I picked up Frog Music with no idea of what it was about. I almost never do that, but it worked out great. Frog Music was a fantastic piece of historical fiction that's far enough outside my wheelhouse that I may not have picked it up otherwise.
The story takes place over August and September 1876 in San Francisco. There's a heat wave and a small pox epidemic and amid all this a young woman named Jenny Bonnet is murdered. Her friend, Blanche, is with her when it happens are finds herself trying to find the perpetrator before he comes after her. Her quest is spliced with flashbacks, detailing how she met Jenny and the events that led to her death.
It turns out that this is an actual unsolved mystery, and nearly all of the characters in the book were real people. There's a great afterward that gets into some of Donaghue's research and details the known facts and the bits no one has even been able to figure out. Around this mystery she weaves a fantastic story about the larger-than-life Jenny, who refuses to dress like a woman and earns her living catching frogs for San Francisco restaurants.
I fell in love with Jenny almost immediately, much like Blanche. Under Jenny's influence, Blanche finds herself questioning assumptions she's always held, and before she knows it her entire life has been turned inside out. It was so much fun to read about her journey to figure out who she was, who her friend was, and why her friend was killed.
My one nitpick is the ending. Which is actually perfect on it's own. It's a wonderfully optimistic look into Blanche's future. But when I found out what actually happens to Blanche beyond the events of the book, it becomes horribly bittersweet. But Donaghue did the best she could, considering that you can't change history. Meanwhile I cried real tears for someone who died over 100 years ago.
The story takes place over August and September 1876 in San Francisco. There's a heat wave and a small pox epidemic and amid all this a young woman named Jenny Bonnet is murdered. Her friend, Blanche, is with her when it happens are finds herself trying to find the perpetrator before he comes after her. Her quest is spliced with flashbacks, detailing how she met Jenny and the events that led to her death.
It turns out that this is an actual unsolved mystery, and nearly all of the characters in the book were real people. There's a great afterward that gets into some of Donaghue's research and details the known facts and the bits no one has even been able to figure out. Around this mystery she weaves a fantastic story about the larger-than-life Jenny, who refuses to dress like a woman and earns her living catching frogs for San Francisco restaurants.
I fell in love with Jenny almost immediately, much like Blanche. Under Jenny's influence, Blanche finds herself questioning assumptions she's always held, and before she knows it her entire life has been turned inside out. It was so much fun to read about her journey to figure out who she was, who her friend was, and why her friend was killed.
My one nitpick is the ending. Which is actually perfect on it's own. It's a wonderfully optimistic look into Blanche's future. But when I found out what actually happens to Blanche beyond the events of the book, it becomes horribly bittersweet. But Donaghue did the best she could, considering that you can't change history. Meanwhile I cried real tears for someone who died over 100 years ago.
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