Review: Stories from Suffragette City (edited by M.J. Rose and Fiona Davis)

My Rating: 5 stars

I'm usually not a huge fan of short story collections and when it comes to books related to politics, I try to steer as far away as possible -- based on these two reasons alone, I most likely would not have picked up this book under normal circumstances.   However, I ended up being drawn to this anthology mostly because of the 13 authors involved, as several of them are among my favorites in terms of previous works of theirs that I've read and adored – plus this one being historical fiction definitely helped, since it's one of my favored genres to read.   Also, this anthology is different from the typical short story collection in that there is a distinct connection between all the stories:  the women's march for the right to vote that took place in New York City on October 23, 1915.   One of the things I loved about this collection was how each author was able to weave into each of their stories some of the themes from their own works, yet still have it tie so perfectly back to the theme of the collection and the specific events that took place.  I thought the flow of the stories was wonderful as well and I absolutely loved seeing some of the same characters "show up" in each other's stories, even if it was only for a small "blink and you'll miss it" scene.  I also loved the diversity of the women in the story and how they were from all different walks of life, with a variety of experiences and backgrounds, yet all were impacted by the suffrage movement in a meaningful way.   Overall, what blew me away with this collection was how well it was put together (especially given the confines of the premise):  the flow was seamless, the writing was stellar, the stories were compelling, and best of all, the characters were wonderfully drawn.  Of course, this should come as no surprise given the 13 authors involved with this collection are all accomplished writers at the top of their craft.  I went into this one with high expectations and it absolutely delivered!

 

As this book is meant to commemorate the 100^thanniversary of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, I found this to be a fantastic tribute to all the women who played a role (whether directly or indirectly) in helping our voices be heard.   With most short story collections, each reader will usually have certain stories that they enjoyed more than others, but for me, that wasn't the case here – I can't say which stories I liked more because, to be honest, all the stories stood out and I loved all of them equally.   I definitely highly recommend this one, especially to historical fiction fans whom I'm sure will find much to enjoy with this collection, regardless of whether you've read these authors' previous works or not.  For me though, reading and loving this collection has inspired me to seek out the works of the other authors that I'm less familiar with and add those to my TBR list!

 

Received finished copy from publisher Henry Holt via BookBrowse First Impressions program.

 

 

Review: The Address (by Fiona Davis)

My Rating: 3.5 stars

I had wanted to read this book primarily because of the historical setting and in a way, from a historical perspective, the author Fiona Davis was able to deliver, as she did a pretty good job establishing a sense of time and place with her vivid descriptions of the Dakota apartment house building in New York City, the infamous location where Beatles lead singer John Lennon was murdered back in 1980.  The present day narrative does refer to the Lennon murder in a historical context, but that's about the extent it goes, as the main story itself is a fictional one about the Camden family and their connection to the Dakota.

Through a dual timeline primarily taking place in New York City in 1885 and 100 years later in 1985, the Dakota is the link that binds the two past and present narratives together.  The first narrative is about a woman named Sara Smythe who, through a chance encounter with architect Theodore Camden in London in 1884, is hired on to become manager of the new apartment house complex he was in charge of building in New York City, called the Dakota.  Once Sara arrives in New York, she is able to put her skills to good use and rise above the circumstances in an era when women were looked down upon and given little respect.   In the second narrative, taking place in 1985, Bailey Camden is a recovering alcoholic who finds herself in desperate circumstances after completing rehab, so she reconnects with her cousin Melinda, the official heir to the Camden legacy, and is tasked with redesigning her apartment in the Dakota.  The 2 narratives start to collide when Bailey finds 3 trunks belonging to Sara, Theodore, and his wife Minnie in the storage area of the building, which sets off a "mystery" of sorts with Bailey trying to find out what exactly happened 100 years ago as well as her own connection to that past.

This was a simply written story and a good choice for a quick, enjoyable summer read.  While I liked it enough overall, I felt that there was not much depth to the story or the characters, which was one reason why I couldn't rate this book any higher than I did.  The story was quite typical and predictable and the way some of the events unfolded felt a bit too contrived – there were times I felt like I was reading an outline with a series of events filled in neatly one after another, all leading to an ending that I pretty much already figured out halfway through the book.  I did appreciate the historical elements that Davis was able to incorporate into both narratives, though I will admit that I was a little disappointed when the second half of the book strayed a bit and focused more on the mystery and romance aspects of the story rather than the history.   There were also a few sections where the way certain characters were written, their reaction to things that happened either didn't make a whole lot of sense or wasn't strong enough, which I think contributed to why I wasn't really able to connect with the characters much.

In the author's note, Davis indicates that this story is a "blend of historical fact and fiction" and for me, it was interesting to find out which parts were real versus the ones that were made up.  I actually did a little bit of Google searching afterwards, as the book had piqued my interest in the Dakota (I live in California and have never been to New York, so I had no idea about the landmark's historical background) and was happy to see that many of the historical details Davis had incorporated were quite accurate.  With that said however, I also feel that the historical context was a little underused at some points when there was opportunity to make it stand out more.  I've seen this book marketed as historical fiction but to me, it felt more like a "cozy mystery in a historical setting" – regardless though, the story was quite readable, just not really what I expected.

Received ARC from Dutton / Random House via Penguin First-to-Read program.