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Kikkermuziek

Emma Donoghue (Goodreads Author),

Manon Smits (Translator)

3.17 · Rating details · 23,905 ratings · 3,626 reviews

Zomer 1876: San Francisco is in de greep van een ongekende hittegolf en een pokkenepidemie. Door het raam van een saloon wordt een jonge vrouw doodgeschoten, Jenny Bonnet. Haar vriendin Blanche Beunon, een Franse revuedanseres, zet alles op alles om Jenny s moordenaar voor het gerecht te brengen - als hij haar tenminste niet eerder te pakken krijgt. Maar wanneer Blanche pr ...more

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Paperback, 432 pages

Published October 2014 by Atlas Contact (first published April 1st 2014)

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Jul 28, 2017 Amalia Gkavea rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, favorites, usa, european-literature, crime, mystery

"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 su "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... ...more

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Jan 06, 2014 karen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: from-publisher-or-author

From the Author Q & A:

One journalist kindly alerted me to the fact that there was a hoax in my Wikipedia entry, a claim that I was writing about 'the murder of a cross-dressing frog-catcher!' - and was abashed when I told him it was true.

and it is indeed a story about that, although it sounds a bit silly described that way, but it's not at all a silly book. it is an entirely serious book based on an unsolved murder case in san francisco in 1876, during the smallpox epidemic and a terrible heat w ...more

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Aug 28, 2017 Jaline rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: xx2017-completed

This novel is controversial. The triggers here are graphic sex involving different groupings, and also child abuse – specifically in “baby farms” where the parents of little ones sent their babies at a cost due to various personal circumstances. The place is San Francisco, the year is 1876 and the story moves back and forth between the months of August and September, the latter being the month that Jenny Bonnet was murdered. While this book is fiction, it is based on the lives of people involved This novel is controversial. The triggers here are graphic sex involving different groupings, and also child abuse – specifically in “baby farms” where the parents of little ones sent their babies at a cost due to various personal circumstances. The place is San Francisco, the year is 1876 and the story moves back and forth between the months of August and September, the latter being the month that Jenny Bonnet was murdered. While this book is fiction, it is based on the lives of people involved with each other during the time a real incident – Jenny’s murder - occurred.

This story is told from Blanche Beunon’s point of view. She meets Jenny in August and they become friends. Blanche had arrived in San Francisco some 18 months earlier with her two fellow circus performers from France: Arthur Deneve, the love of Blanche’s life, and Ernest Girard who was Arthur’s protégé and is now Arthur’s partner in businesses unknown.

Blanche uses her physical skills to become a star performer in a dance hall, and with Arthur’s knowledge and consent, she also gets paid to perform with some of the clientele in the bedroom. Blanche and Arthur had a baby boy and Blanche became very ill after he was born so Arthur made arrangements for him to live “on a farm”.

After meeting the free-wheeling Jenny, Blanche begins to see her life differently and takes steps to recover her baby. One of the first incidents in the book is the murder of Jenny, and Blanche’s efforts to find the killer. This is complicated further by her desire to find and recover her baby son and it is around these two primary elements that this story revolves.

This novel is gritty, brutal in places, and demonstrates inequality between the sexes in a very immediate way. It doesn’t sugar-coat any of the “wild west” flavor of the post-Gold Rush era in San Francisco. Out of necessity, the city became a cauldron of many cultures and the conflicts that rage between them overflow into hot tempers, destruction of property, and yes – even murder.

As bleak as all of this sounds, I was riveted by this book. It was so compelling that when I set it down to do something else, my mind gravitated to it like a magnet to iron. The author captures the sights, smells, people and places within “The City” with such a strong feeling of reality, I was spellbound. I recommend this to people who enjoy books that take hold of your attention and propel you along with the force of the need to know what happens next.
...more

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Jan 11, 2014 Diane rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, unfinished, meh

This book is a mess.

I find this extra disappointing because this was one of the novels I had been looking forward to reading this summer. I had been so impressed with Donoghue's earlier book, "Room," that I wanted to read more of her work.

Now, I want to read less of it.

"Frog Music" is an attempt at historical fiction and true crime. It's set in San Francisco in the summer of 1876, and it's based on the true story of an unsolved murder. Someone killed Jenny Bonnet in a boardinghouse, and in the This book is a mess.

I find this extra disappointing because this was one of the novels I had been looking forward to reading this summer. I had been so impressed with Donoghue's earlier book, "Room," that I wanted to read more of her work.

Now, I want to read less of it.

"Frog Music" is an attempt at historical fiction and true crime. It's set in San Francisco in the summer of 1876, and it's based on the true story of an unsolved murder. Someone killed Jenny Bonnet in a boardinghouse, and in the novel, Jenny's friend, Blanche, tries to bring the murderer to justice.

Unfortunately, the dialogue is eye-rollingly awkward. And there is so much of it! This seems to be a mistake that young writers make -- filling pages with pointless dialogue. Donoghue is not an immature writer, but she seems to have gotten carried away while playing around with the speech of the time period.

(Do you remember that great scene in the movie Amadeus, where the Emperor tells Mozart that his composition had "too many notes?" I giggled when I thought of an editor telling Donoghue that she had too many words.)

Here is an early example, from when Jenny and Blanche first meet:

"How long have you been here?" Jenny asks Blanche.

"Since the winter before last."

"So why've you stayed?"

Blanche blinks at the question. "You have no manners, miss."

"Oh, I've got some," says Jenny," they're just not what you might call pretty. Diamond in the rough, that's me."

Blanche rolls her eyes. "And why shouldn't I have stayed, may I ask?"

"Most move on through," observes Jenny. "As if the City's just a mouth, swallowing them whole, and the rest of America's the belly where they end up."

Here is another irritating one, with Blanche and Jenny talking about the Smallpox epidemic in the city:

"I hope you've had your scratch?" she asks Jenny, suddenly wary.

"Jenny slaps her sleeve above the elbow. "Stood in line for a day, eight years back, when it hit the City last."

"I thought perhaps you'd take your chances," Blanche teases, "being so devil-may-care."

Jenny grins back. "Devil-may-care's not the same as dumb as an ox."

GAAAAAAA. MAKE IT STOP.

Aside from the poor dialogue, I found the story boring. Jenny gets shot within the first few pages, and I felt no connection to either her or Blanche. Earlier this year, I slogged through Donna Tartt's "The Goldfinch" (which is almost 800 pages!) without caring about any of the characters. I made it more than 100 pages in this novel and decided to abandon it. I've already paid my blah-blah-blah dues this year, thank you.

(After a few days of consideration, I dropped my rating from 2 stars down to 1 because I really did not like this book. Sorry, Donoghue.) ...more

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Apr 09, 2014 Julie rated it did not like it · review of another edition

This book croaked!
The narrative and characters were dead, dead, dead.

Should I just check the thesaurus for synonyms for "tedious" because I might overuse the word in my review? (Actually I am afraid that if I looked up "tedious" I would probably see "Frog Music"!!)

If only I had checked and seen the rather long appendix. It made far more interesting reading that the drivel presented as fictionalised history ... but sadly by then I had more than lost interested in it all.

If only women dressing as ...more

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Mar 06, 2014 Diane rated it did not like it · review of another edition

I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway. Lacking a fire, I put it in the recycle bin. I was expecting a story about San Francisco, a murder mystery and some historical facts not commonly known. I was not expecting to read French (sex slang mostly), or songs about drinking and child abuse (in French and English). The main character is a dancer/prostitute/circus performer. She loses all of her belongings, money and clothing several times in a few weeks. She loses her own child several times a ...more

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Jan 31, 2017 Phrynne rated it did not like it · review of another edition

I really struggled with this one. The characters were unpleasant, the subject matter was frequently disgusting and the story bounced around all over the place. Plus it was written in the present tense which I always dislike. To be absolutely honest I cannot find a redeeming feature for the whole book. Sorry everyone who liked it! It just was not for me.

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Apr 03, 2014 Philip rated it liked it · review of another edition

*Explanation of Review to follow.*

When I finished this book, I was all like:

Crazy Face

I mean - did that SERIOUSLY just happen?

GIRL on bike

That's a girl on the Penny-Farthing bike that's about to crash into you, even though you thought it was a dude at first glance. She was just minding her own business - off to catch some of these guys:

Skinny Frog Legs

She be like: YOU GUYS WOULD BE MIGHTY TASTY!!!!!!

Tasty Frog Legs

At that point, I found myself again saying this:

Crazy Face

Half the time though, I was like: why all the old-timey songs?

Oldies

Then I put two and two ...more

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Jan 29, 2014 Amantha rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I actually finished this last night but I'm torn between writing a coherent review or just quietly sulking in a corner about how much I loved this book.

ETA: Phil ~~asked for~~ demanded a review so I'll give it my best shot:

I wasn't planning on enjoying this book so much. I wasn't even planning on reading it until BJ rang me right before she was supposed to relieve me for lunch and said "Did you want to read the new Emma Donoghue book?" I only vaguely remembered that she even had a new book coming ou I actually finished this last night but I'm torn between writing a coherent review or just quietly sulking in a corner about how much I loved this book.

ETA: Phil ~~asked for~~ demanded a review so I'll give it my best shot:

I wasn't planning on enjoying this book so much. I wasn't even planning on reading it until BJ rang me right before she was supposed to relieve me for lunch and said "Did you want to read the new Emma Donoghue book?" I only vaguely remembered that she even had a new book coming out but on a whim I said, "Yeah sure why not?" What a good impulsive decision that turned out to be.

First of all, this book is being touted as a mystery but I would be hard-pressed to categorise it as such; yes there is a murder that must be solved, but the protagonist, Blanche Beunon, is less concerned with solving the murder than she is with just simply staying alive. The real strength of this book comes with the gradual unfolding of the story. It doesn't so much as have flashbacks as it does have two timelines running simultaneously: the night of the murder and its following days, and the whole month leading up to the murder. The time shifts aren't difficult to follow as long as you can keep in mind that Friday the 15th of September was the day after the murder.

I've come to find that what I love about Donoghue's writing is her ability to build characters through other people's eyes. In Room we learn about the mother and everyone through the eyes of a five-year-old boy; he's not the most intellectual character but what he lacks in savvy he makes up for in intuitiveness and naive observations. In Frog Music we learn about Jenny (and Arthur and Earnest and the Madame, but really all I cared about by the end was Jenny) through Blanche's perspective. She's a witless, annoying character at times, but she knows what she wants and she learns, with Jenny's help, to pursue it at any cost. And then there's the mystery of Jenny herself: Blanche thinks she knows her new friend but does she really? (Spoiler alert: the answer is no.)

The other thing Donoghue does well is she knows when to be explicit but more importantly she knows when to leave things slightly obscured. Jenny and Blanche's relationship feels more ethereal, more precious because of how it is presented, as opposed to the crassness with which Blanche and Arthur's relationship is illustrated.

I mean this book basically has everything you could ever want: real life events, a murder, San Francisco during the Wild West era, French burlesque dancers, cross-dressing women, brothels, whores, and much excitement. What more could you ask for?

E(again)TA: About 2/3 of the way through the book I wrote this email to BJ with the subject line "Grrrrrrr":

I'm super ridiculously angry at Frog Music for being such a good book and so sad that I nearly started crying three times already and I'm super ridiculously angry at you for suggesting I read it and I'm super ridiculously angry at myself for almost passing it by as "eh it sounds okay but I've got so many other books to read."

I'm also super ridiculously angry that I'm not reading it right this very minute and I have to do this weird thing people call "work."

Signed,

Angry (Super Ridiculous)

I think that pretty much sums up my whole feelings on this book. ...more

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Jan 30, 2014 Ron Charles rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

Emma Donoghue has broken out of her “Room.” Four years after that bestselling story of a mother and child imprisoned in a garden shed, she’s back with a novel ravenous for space, for people, for sounds — for all the life that 5-year-old Jack never had. The millions of readers who know Donoghue only from the harrowing tale of that little boy will discover in “Frog Music” just how expansive and boisterous this Irish Canadian author can be.

“Frog Music” — her first historical novel set in America — ...more

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Apr 09, 2014 Susan (aka Just My Op) marked it as abandoned · review of another edition

Shelves: audio

The story is dark, which is usually fine with me, but it's also nasty and full of unlikable characters making stupid and cruel decisions. The narrator of the audio version uses a French accent that is annoying, but even if the book had been read perfectly, I don't think I would have finished this one.

The only character I enjoyed at all is dead.

I'll finish mildly entertaining books, and even enjoy some books that are not great, but life's too short to spend reading a book I hate. I made it about ...more

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Nov 07, 2013 Diane S ☔ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I am so glad that Donoghue has returned to historical fiction, in this her latest offering. Based on the unsolved murder, in San Francisco during the latter part of the 1800's; the murder being that of Jenny Bonnet, a cross dressing, frog catcher with a mysterious past. She and Blanche become friends after Jenny runs into her with her while riding her high wheeler.

Blanche, who had come from France with her two, well one was her lover and the other his friend, has become a dancer and prostitute ...more

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Apr 21, 2014 Betsy Hetzel rated it did not like it · review of another edition

After ROOM, a book I loved, I was so excited for Ms. Donoghue's next book FROG MUSIC but.... now that I've read it, I simply do not understand how/why this book got positive reviews; in my opinion, it was just awful!
The beginning was confusing as it was difficult to know what action was happening when/where; was I reading about pre-murder or post-murder?
The characters were also awful: Blanche, the prostitute who loved her "work", and Arthur and Ernest, the parasites who lived off her and her ...more

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Mar 31, 2015 Matthew rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015, library, gr_awards_2014, audio, historical-fiction

This book is probably between 3 and 4 stars for me. I would probably not have read it if it was not for having read Room a few years ago. However, this book is nothing like Room.

The story and the characters were very interesting. The descriptions of the locales was pretty good as well. I think this is a story that will be enjoyable to historical fiction buffs.

My only criticism - and I am sure not all will agree - is that the descriptions went a little far at points with no other purpose except t ...more

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Jan 11, 2018 Madeline rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historic-fiction

In the summer of 1876, Blanche Beunon and Jenny Bonnet are on the run. The two women - Blanche, a French burlesque dancer; and Jenny, a cross-dressing frog hunter - are hiding out at a boarding house on the outskirts of smallpox-infested San Francisco, trying to escape Blanche's violent ex-lover. In the middle of the night, someone shoots into the women's room, and Jenny is killed. Now, Blanche is racing to solve two mysteries: who murdered Jenny Bonnet, and the secrets of Jenny's past.

It wasn' In the summer of 1876, Blanche Beunon and Jenny Bonnet are on the run. The two women - Blanche, a French burlesque dancer; and Jenny, a cross-dressing frog hunter - are hiding out at a boarding house on the outskirts of smallpox-infested San Francisco, trying to escape Blanche's violent ex-lover. In the middle of the night, someone shoots into the women's room, and Jenny is killed. Now, Blanche is racing to solve two mysteries: who murdered Jenny Bonnet, and the secrets of Jenny's past.

It wasn't until I got to the author's afterword that I found out that Emma Donoghue based Frog Music on true events: a woman named Jenny Bonnet, who had previously been arrested for dressing in men's clothing, was shot dead outside San Francisco, with a burlesque dancer named Blanche as the only witness. Using court documents where Blanche and others provided testimony about Jenny and the events surrounding the murders, Donoghue attempts to recreate these historical figures as fictional characters, and present her own solution to the mystery of Jenny Bonnet's death.

So yes, you do eventually find out who killed her - sort of. The actual historical case remains unsolved, but I thought Donoghue's solution to the mystery was perfectly acceptable, although I don't know how much artistic license she had to take with her characters to make her ending work. Overall, this is an exciting historical mystery, and Donoghue does a great job of presenting 19th-century San Francisco as a city that feels fully researched and real.

The thing that pulled me in and kept me invested in the book was the relationship between Jenny and Blanche, so I was confused and sort of annoyed when early in the story, we're also informed that Blanche has a baby that she gave up for adoption. The Jenny angle is kind of dropped by the narrative for a little while as Blanche decides to track her baby down, and ends up trying to raise it herself. Remember, at this point I still thought the story was completely fictional, so I was sitting there thinking, what's with the baby subplot? Can we get back to the murder mystery? Like, if I were Emma Donoghue's editor and this was a straightforward novel, I probably would have told her to cut the baby entirely, since it distracted from Jenny's story. But Blanche's baby does ultimately come into play in the aftermath of the murder, so at least there's that.

Donoghue writes in her author's note that after the breakout success of Room, she was interested in trying to write a "bad mother," someone who doesn't have Ma's fierce maternal instinct and is less likeable. If this was her goal with Blanche, she's...sort of successful. Sure, Blanche doesn't want to be a mother, and she's annoyed with her baby more often than not. But eventually, just like in the wildest fantasies of pro-life fantatics, a magical switch gets flipped in Blanche's brain, and she falls in love with her baby and decides she's going to do her best to be a great mother. So, way to subvert expectations there, Donoghue.

Look, the simple truth is that not all women are meant to be mothers. I'm not going to argue that Blanche's baby was better off where she initially left it, but there are other options for her character besides "abandon child at a baby farm" and "form strong emotional bond with baby through the magical power of motherhood." But the most irritating thing about the whole baby subplot, as I've said, was that it distracted from what I'd assumed was the main point of the novel. I wanted a fictionalized retelling of two unconventional women trying to break out of their circumstances in a society intent on keeping them under control, and Frog Music only partially delivered. ...more

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Jan 27, 2014 Cheri rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: san-francisco, literature-american, historical-fiction, mystery, literary-fiction, read-in-2014

Based on the actual 1876 murder of Jenny Bonnet, a young woman whose choice of attiring herself in scandalous pants (well, scandalous for a woman) in San Francisco in the 1870’s, Frog Music begins with the character of Blanche Beunon, Albert Deneve and Albert’s buddy Ernest, former tightrope walkers from France. In the background San Francisco is undergoing a heat wave for the record books, and a smallpox epidemic which created an atmosphere of panic and finger-pointing at the Chinese population ...more

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May 10, 2014 Michael rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: five-star-books

Sleaze and sordidness behind the glitz and glamour of showbiz provides a decadent backdrop for this sexy historical whodunnit. Set amid the gaudy world of burlesque, gambling and prostitution in San Francisco's Chinatown during a heatwave and smallpox epidemic in the late 1870's, this is a story of lust, betrayal, murder and redemption that will keep the reader hooked from the very first page till the end.

Former circus performer Blanche Beunon is an exotic dancer who lures the crowds at the Hous ...more

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Apr 13, 2020 Katie Lumsden rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A truly fantastic read. Complex, historically fascinating, clever, twisty and wonderful. Emma Donoghue is fast becoming one of my favourite authors.

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Jan 30, 2014 Mish rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: library-friends-books, crime, historical, faction, fiction, mystery, favourite, 2014

Frog Music is absolutely remarkable, well researched and thought-out novel where the reader is transported back in time to a colourful, wild bohemian lifestyle of San Francisco in 1876; during an unforgiving heat wave and the outbreak of smallpox, racial prejudice and riots against the influx of Chinese immigrant, and the damaged infants at these ‘baby farms’.

And while this is all taking place, Donoghue tells us of a crime that has been committed, based on actual events.

Donoghue gives us an ins Frog Music is absolutely remarkable, well researched and thought-out novel where the reader is transported back in time to a colourful, wild bohemian lifestyle of San Francisco in 1876; during an unforgiving heat wave and the outbreak of smallpox, racial prejudice and riots against the influx of Chinese immigrant, and the damaged infants at these ‘baby farms’.

And while this is all taking place, Donoghue tells us of a crime that has been committed, based on actual events.

Donoghue gives us an insight into the life and unsolved murder of Jenny Bonnet, frog catcher by trade, and well known for outspoken boisterous behaviour, and illegal attire as a cross dresser. And to the surviving woman and friend of Jenny, Blanche Beunon, an erotic dancer, performer and prostitute, who’s adamant, the bullet was meant for her.

In Frog Music the plot alternates back and forth in time, as we follow a grief stricken Blanche after the murder, as she desperately tries to seek justice to expose Jenny’s killer. And then it moves to the events leading up to the murder; the moment Blanche contented life is turns to disorder, how Jenny influence altered Blanche outlook in life, and the shifts in dynamics between life long friendships.

The back and forth in time is quite sudden and I’ve heard from a few readers that this transition created an interruption to their reading flow and have, in parts, put the reader off. Surprisingly it didn’t have that effect on me, I thought the transition was quite seamless and was able to pin point exactly where and what timeframe I was in. Plus I felt it added intrigue and intensity to the plot; with Jenny’s death as a reminder throughout the book, I was eager to find out at what point in time did the situation turned criminal and why.

Emma Donoghue incorporated as many facts as she can possibly could into this novel; including their real names, and their actual place of residence, work and the murder scene, and so much more – where you will find parts of her research in a summary at the end of the book called ‘Afterwards’ - and the rest was her perspective of what took place, based on historical records she uncovered.

I can’t tell you if it’s because of the factual details but these people felt so alive and genuine, so much so, I felt their confusion, grief and suffering, radiating off the pages into me. And regardless of the fact that their thoughts or actions can occasionally be cringe worthy and frustrating – especially Blanche with her naive attitude – you can’t help but feel a strong bond with them.

Frog Music is atmospheric - perfect novel to read if you live or have visited San Francisco for its fascinating history and vividness - and magnificently written and intriguing novel.
...more

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Sep 23, 2016 Petra rated it did not like it · review of another edition

I found that this story had not much to do with the premise of the outline. Sure, there's a murder but it's not what this book is about. It's about Blanche; just Blanche. No matter what happened in the storyline, it became about how it affected Blanche.
I find Blanche a self-pitying, obnoxious, self-centered woman. I don't have to like the characters in a book, so this didn't play into my rating. But it got eye-rollingly annoying how much Blanche thought only of herself and how all the events ar ...more

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Jan 04, 2019 CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, sex-work, queer, san-fransisco, mystery-thriller, ontario, bisexual, own, historical, lesbian

A fascinating character study, murder mystery, and atmospheric historical fiction set in 1870s San Francisco. I appreciated how the main character Blanche is made to be neither necessarily 'likeable' nor 'good'; she's an ambivalent but loving mother, a sex worker, a woman who likes to have lots of sex, and sarcastic. The crux of the plot is the unsolved murder of her cross-dressing frog-catching friend Jenny. Fabulous audiobook performance! Something about this only feels like three stars, thoug ...more

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Jan 09, 2014 Brenda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own-read, sent-by-publisher, historical-fiction, mystery, 2014-release

3.5★s

Exotic dancer Blanche Beunon was executing her routine dance at the House of Mirrors with energy and dedication, while the audience cheered and screamed for her. The San Francisco heatwave of 1876 was stifling but she gave her customers everything she had. Wandering home later that night, hot and exhausted but looking forward to seeing her lover Arthur, she was suddenly knocked violently to one side – a person dressed in men’s clothing had run her over with a one-wheeled bicycle. When she f 3.5★s

Exotic dancer Blanche Beunon was executing her routine dance at the House of Mirrors with energy and dedication, while the audience cheered and screamed for her. The San Francisco heatwave of 1876 was stifling but she gave her customers everything she had. Wandering home later that night, hot and exhausted but looking forward to seeing her lover Arthur, she was suddenly knocked violently to one side – a person dressed in men’s clothing had run her over with a one-wheeled bicycle. When she furiously rounded on that person, she discovered it was a young woman who then introduced herself as Jenny Bonnet…

Blanche, along with Arthur and his companion Ernest were from Paris; they had starred in the Parisian Circus together, a tight threesome who did everything together. One year previously they had travelled to San Francisco after Arthur had injured himself and was no longer able to perform on the flying trapeze. Living in a small apartment complex in Chinatown Blanche was the money maker of the three; but she found herself hiding part of her income away from Arthur in an old boot in their bedroom, for the future, and in case it was needed.

When Jenny entered their little group, her strange ways (capturing frogs for the dining halls of the city; wearing men’s clothing; riding the one-wheel bicycle everywhere) upset the routine of Blanche and the two men. Blanche found herself declaring Jenny her one and only friend and suddenly the dynamics changed. Plus the smallpox epidemic had hit the city and there were yellow flags attached to residences everywhere.
With past secrets unravelling and danger where it was least expected, Blanche and Jenny left Chinatown for San Miguel Station where Jenny had friends. But suddenly and irrevocably tragedy occurred – lives would never be the same again….

Emma Donoghue has written this novel using the exact names and stories of their time, blending truth and imagination into a tale which is steeped in intrigue and mystery. Her research is amazing – at the end of the book is the information about the characters, their dates of birth and death (where known). The smallpox epidemic and massive heatwave are documented facts from that year and into the next; the lives of the poor, the prostitutes, the horrors all around are authentic.

The events in the book spanned a period of approximately one month – the story jumped backward and forward between the before and after quite abruptly and I had trouble working out the time frame on occasion. Blanche was not really a likeable young woman – she let herself be used abominably, but that would also be the lot of women back in those days. Jenny was a strong character, very likeable, quirky and fun. I have no hesitation in recommending this novel.
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May 05, 2014 Amanda Patterson rated it did not like it · review of another edition

What a terrible book. I'm not even sure what it was all about. I felt no connection to either the characters or the setting.
I think Blanche is supposed to be the protagonist but I couldn't really tell. She is a dancer/prostitute who was once a circus performer who loses her belongings and her child several times over a short period of time in San Francisco in 1876. Then she loses her house while she is out of town for a few days, and her abusive lover, Arthur and his friend, Ernest leave.
She m ...more

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May 15, 2014 Sarah rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: didn-t-finish

I believe that life is too short to finish a book that you do not enjoy.
This one started off great. I was enjoying reading about 1876 San Francisco and an interesting collection of characters that live just inside the underbelly of the city. The story alternates in time, the shooting and its aftermath, a few weeks before the shooting and then earlier time periods. At the half way point I just didn't care anymore. I read the final chapter and then the author's notes on the real life people that i ...more

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Jan 06, 2014 Jessica Jeffers rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Blanche remembers being fifteen: the dull, shackled sensation that life is something that happens to other people. And then one day, with no warning, it begins.

I never read Room because I am an unabashed snob and, if I wasn’t interested in a given book before it becomes a Thing, I’m probably not going to read it once it does become a Thing. I just find that, when I read something just because it’s popular and buzzy, I am almost always disappointed (see: The Night Circus, The Husband’s Secret, St Blanche remembers being fifteen: the dull, shackled sensation that life is something that happens to other people. And then one day, with no warning, it begins.

I never read Room because I am an unabashed snob and, if I wasn’t interested in a given book before it becomes a Thing, I’m probably not going to read it once it does become a Thing. I just find that, when I read something just because it’s popular and buzzy, I am almost always disappointed (see: The Night Circus, The Husband’s Secret, Stieg Larsson). Clearly I am an awful person.

This one sounded interesting to me, though, in a way that Room never did. It’s based on the true story of a murder that went unsolved and Emma Donoghue has done her best to piece together a possible explanation. On September 15, 1876, Jenny Bonnet was shot to death through the window of a boarding house outside of San Fransisco. Blanche Buenon was in the same room as Jenny, but was spared simply because she was bending down to undress when the bullets broke through the glass. She suspects that she may know who is responsible for the murder – but that means that she may have been the intended target.

This is not so much a mystery novel, though, as it is a character study. The story is told in two alternating timelines. The first shows the reader how Blanche, a French immigrant who came to SF with her lover Arthur and his “bosom buddy” Ernest to work as a dancer and a prostitute, meets Jenny, a transient woman who catches frogs for local restaurants and is frequently arrested for wearing pants. Though they are very different, the two women bond almost immediately during a summer defined by an unbearable heat wave and a smallpox outbreak that has everyone on edge. Blanche reveals to Jenny that she has an infant son, P’tit, who has been “farmed out” to a crude nursery as is the French custom at the time. It is this revelation that ultimately sets in motion the book’s central conflict, when Blanche learns about the horrific conditions her son is living in and decides to bring him home even though she has no idea how to care for a baby.

In the second timeline, beginning six weeks later, Jenny has just been shot and Blanche has found herself alone with no lover, no child, no money and no roof over her head. She is determined to prove that she knows who killed Jenny while also searching for P’tit and doing her best to keep herself alive. She’s often quite foolish, but she’s also a victim of her circumstances – women in the late nineteenth century had very few options, especially in the still-wild frontier of California.

I thought these two characters were fascinating and I could not wait to find out what was going to happen to them. As Blanche desperately stumbles along, she begins to realize just how little she knew about Jenny, this woman who has been the catalyst for so much turbulence in Blanche’s life but who revealed very little about herself. Both women are outsiders essentially just trying to get by, and Donoghue treats them both with empathy and care – it’s easy to see just how wrapped up Donoghue must have become in her historical research, which is detailed in her endnotes. She came to love these two women and it shows in her writing. This book isn’t ultimately about whodunit so much as it’s about the unrest of a particular time and place and shining a light on two women whose lives got swallowed up by that unrest. It’s a great read, ideal for lovers of historical fiction or psychologically complex examinations of people who would ordinarily be cast aside as Others.

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Oct 19, 2020 Karl Jorgenson rated it liked it · review of another edition

A captivating tour of 1876 San Francisco, at least the seedier side. Chinatown, racism, whore houses, corrupt cops, killers, thieves, and beggars seem to comprise the heart of the city. Blanche, a high-demand prostitute besotted with her pimp, meets Jenny, a rebel who wears men's clothing and rides a high-wheeler bicycle. This starts Blanche on a new path, away from the glamour, wealth, and style of supporting her pimp.
The structure for the book is the common 'dual timeline,' where Jenny is murd ...more

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Jan 17, 2019 Ria rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: lgbt-characters, 4stars

I didn’t read The Room and I’m not planning on reading it. I’m saying that because everyone is like ‘Omfg this is nothing like the room’, ‘the room was so much better’. Okay Becky cool but I don’t care. The only Room I care about is that iconic movie.
This is historical fiction which I don’t care about but it was cheap so I got it. Some parts were dragging but I still found it interesting and enjoyable. I didn’t care for any of the characters tho. I feel like reading some reviews before reading t ...more

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Jun 14, 2020 Ashley Daviau rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This book has cemented Donoghue as an auto buy author for me. I adored Room which I read first and I absolutely loved Frog Music! The only reason it loses a star is that I found the time jumps a tad confusing at first and I kept having to flip back to see where I was. Eventually I got the hang of it though and then the story started to just flow beautifully and I fell in love. It’s surprisingly dark and gritty which I wasn’t expecting from the cover (because I went into this one blind without ev ...more

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Apr 30, 2014 Gretchen rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: simply-awful-books

Somewhere between Blanche having sex with various men (and maybe women) and Blanche whining about wanting to have sex with various men (and maybe women), there was a murder. On top of all the sex and the murder, there was the worst book I have read all year.

This book is suppose to be some kind of engrossing look at San Francisco during the summer of 1876 when the city was plagued with heat and a small pox outbreak. Yes, Blanche suffered (more like whined) through the heat. Yes, Blanche had a ru ...more

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Jan 14, 2014 Karin Slaughter rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Excellent stuff! I've loved Emma since Slammerkin, which came out around the same time as Crimson Petal and the White and was MUCH more engaging, but didn't get the same press. (Not that I didn't enjoy Crimson Petal, but Slammerkin was phenomenal). Well worth the time. Also, you'll learn some really nasty French curse words. ...more

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About Emma Donoghue

Emma Donoghue

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Grew up in Ireland, 20s in England doing a PhD in eighteenth-century literature, since then in Canada. Best known for my novel, film and play ROOM, also other contemporary and historical novels and short stories, non-fiction, theatre and middle-grade novels.

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The bestselling author of Room returns with a historical mystery, Frog Music, about the unsolved murder of trouser-wearing free spirit Jenny Bonnet...

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Quotes from Kikkermuziek

“better keep your mouth shut and seem stupid than open it and remove all doubt.” — 11 likes

“People have no idea of the things that don't happen to them—the lives they're not living, the deaths stalking them—and thank Christ for that. Hard enough to get through each day without glimpsing all the hovering possibilities, like insects thickening the air.” — 10 likes

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