"The Nature of Fragile Things" by Susan Meissner

"Her maid can't even so much as make her a cup of tea. Her entire set of Royal Doulton is in pieces on the floor, and on top of that, the toilet isn't working."
— The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner
I finished a book over the weekend that I enjoyed so much, and I wanted to share it with all of you in case it's one you haven't read yet. Susan Meissner's The Nature of Fragile Things takes place around the time of the San Francisco earthquake in April 1906. A young Irishwoman named Sophie, still new to life in the US, is living in poor conditions in New York when she sees a newspaper ad by a California widower who seeks a new wife to help raise his five-year-old daughter.
Sophie answers the ad, corresponds with a handsome but mysterious gentleman named Martin Hocking, then travels to California and immediately marries him and becomes a mother to young, quiet Kat. All is not smooth sailing, and before some circumstances regarding her marriage can get sorted out, the earthquake strikes. Meissner makes it easy to visualize the disaster relief efforts in San Francisco, and of course I find such efforts all the more heroic in a time when they didn't have the internet and mass transit and cell phones. It was also easy to be concerned for Sophie and her new family, and the author does a terrific job of weaving together a mystery with a natural disaster.
It dawned on me that just as I love vintage things, I even like vintage news, and this book taught me quite a few things I didn't know about the San Francisco earthquake. If you, too, would enjoy a book that's equal parts history and mystery, give this novel a try. And if you've already ready it, I'd love to know what you thought of it!