Friday, February 21, 2014

Review: A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner

A Fall of Marigolds
by Susan Meissner

Publisher: NAL Trade
Pages: 400
Format: eARC
Buy the Book: Amazon
 
Goodreads:  September 1911. On Ellis Island in New York Harbor, nurse Clara Wood cannot face returning to Manhattan, where the man she loved fell to his death in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Then, while caring for a fevered immigrant whose own loss mirrors hers, she becomes intrigued by a name embroidered onto the scarf he carries…and finds herself caught in a dilemma that compels her to confront the truth about the assumptions she’s made. Will what she learns devastate her or free her? 

September 2011. On Manhattan’s Upper West Side, widow Taryn Michaels has convinced herself that she is living fully, working in a charming specialty fabric store and raising her daughter alone. Then a long-lost photograph appears in a national magazine, and she is forced to relive the terrible day her husband died in the collapse of the World Trade Towers…the same day a stranger reached out and saved her. Will a chance reconnection and a century-old scarf open Taryn’s eyes to the larger forces at work in her life?


Kritters Thoughts:  Two main characters and their stories intertwine in the most eloquent way through a beautiful scarf that has stood the test of time.  The smaller of the two stories is the modern day story about a woman who lived through the tragedy of September 11th in New York City and lost her husband when the towers collapsed.  The story that took center stage centered around a woman who lived through the tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York in 1911 - Clara is a nurse and lived through this tragedy and is still trying to put the pieces of her life back together.

There were moments in this book that completely took my breath away as these two women find out bits of information surrounding their deepest moments that help them recover and figure out what can be next after hitting extreme lows.  The way these two tragedies in New York City mirror one another was amazing - I couldn't believe that the history behind it was completely true.  

Meissner brings two women who have very similar experiences and puts them side by side for the reader and just pulls your heartstring!  I was completely invested in both women from the start and honestly had a hard time saying goodbye when the book ended.  

This book is already on my top books for 2014, I would suggest this book to all readers who love two storylines that intersect with a past and a present nature.  I would even suggest this to readers who don't tend to enjoy historical fiction.  A must read for 2014!

Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Ebook 2014 Challenge: 8 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Penguin.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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