The Mapmaker's Wife

by Christine E. Forth

In 1844, two young women arrive in London in the same September week. Catherine, pregnant and seventeen, has crossed the Irish Sea in search of her circus strongman lover. Mary, a pure-hearted midwife, as fled a personal trauma in Somerset. By the time their parallel journeys collide, three lives will lay ruined. How will they be mended, and who will do it? With rich prose and a cast of vibrant characters, the story sweeps from rural hinterlands to teeming city streets, veers north to Scotland's solitary islands, and back to a burgeoning, confident London in the midst of the Industrial Revolution. Along the way, the reader encounters the Victorian love of travelling circuses, its fascination with spiritualism, and the horrors of the Irish potato famine. It concludes with a glimpse into a future of social reform and an emerging women's movement.

Genres: Fiction

300 pages, Paperback

Published August 11, 2018

Reviews

[Kathy Moberg]

I received a free Kindle version of this book through GoodReads giveaways. Sadly, I was very unimpressed by this novel. There is a lot of plot, but a great deal of it has a "made up" feel to it rather than flowing naturally. Character development is poor. Technically, one star means "did not like it" and that is my honest opinion. Someone else may feel differently.

[Mary]

I won this through a Goodreads contest. I only gave it two stars because it is just not believable. The characters have no depth, the narrative is weak. The author needs to do more work if there are to be future novels. I did not care for this book but perhaps other readers may disagree.

[Linda]

I didn't really enjoy this book. The story just didn't ring true for me

[Jennifer Reynolds]

I really like historical novels and this story just tugs at your heart strings in so many ways. Mary is definitely my favorite but I totally understood Catherine's perspective. Lovely characters.

[Mandy Eve-Barnett]

Such a great tale of interconnecting lives, struggles, secrets and consequences.
Christine has immersed her readers into a world that is so real you can almost touch it.
Highly recommend.