Summer of 1876: San Francisco is in the fierce grip of a record-breaking heatwave and a smallpox epidemic. Through the window of a railroad saloon, a young woman called Jenny Bonnet is shot dead.
The survivor, her friend Blanche Beunon, is a French burlesque dancer. Over the next three days, she will risk everything to bring Jenny’s murderer to justice–if he doesn’t track her down first.
The story Blanche struggles to piece together is one of free-love bohemians, desperate paupers and arrogant millionaires; of jealous men, icy women and damaged children. It’s the secret life of Jenny herself, a notorious character who breaks the law every morning by getting dressed: a charmer as slippery as the frogs she hunts.
In thrilling, cinematic style, FROG MUSIC digs up a long-forgotten, never-solved crime. Full of songs that migrated across the world, Emma Donoghue’s lyrical tale of love and bloodshed among lowlifes captures the pulse of a boomtown like no other.
Whether Emma Donoghue takes on historical novels like Slammerkin or contemporary thrillers like Room, she is one skilled author. Once again she proves herself in Frog Music. Iโll be honest that it took me a good hundred pages to get into this story; there was a lot going on that didnโt add up and my connection to the characters waned. But suddenly, as with all good authors, the pieces began to fit, the mystery unfolded and the flashbacks were oh so necessary to believe in the characters. This book is based on a historically unsolved murder and the author did an excellent job of spinning the case to solve it with fiction. The main protagonist, Blanche, is a damaged character who finds her first friend, uses her body as her livelihood and struggles with unconditional love of a child. She is a complicated character and I loved every bit of her. Her french used throughout the book was fanciful and she had a wonderfully raunchy sensibility. Her counterpart, cross-dressing friend Jenny, was mysterious, outrageous for her time period and deeply broken on the inside. So much of what she did, as the frog catcher, was a perfect mirror for her charming personality and her puzzling past.
Quotes I liked:
The whiskey is harsh in her throat: just right. As the fellow says, quips Jenny in her head, sometimes too much to drink is barely enough.โ
– โYou frog whore, thatโs what Ellen have liked to call Blanch, no doubt, except that the woman probably couldnโt pronounce such a word because the Irish are the prudes of Europe. (Always have more children than they can feed, then go round crossing themselves as if the donโt know ย what fucking is.)โ
ย
– โThen a convulsive cough, and Blanche feels such pity that she presses him to her. Registers a surge of warmth against bodice. Love, she thinks in shock, love flaring up between herself and this sobbing baby, love so hot she can feel it on her skin. then the heat dies away and she realizes what it is: heโs pissed on her.โ
ย
– โThis is why women donโt start wars, she thinks with a flash of contempt for her whole sex. Itโs the blasted babies.โ
ย
– โSheโs out on the landing and thundering down the stairs, pressing her boy to her. she feels that surge of warmth and this time she remembers what it means; not love but piss. Or the love thatโs mixed with piss and canโt be separated from it.โ
Review:The Measure by Nikki Erlick was a book I waited far too long to read. I just couldnโt stomach the idea that everyone in the world would find out their relative life span. The whole idea of this scared me but when my book club chose to read it, I dug in with enthusiasm.Iโm so glad I did. This book is more about life and how we live it, rather than about dying. Itโs told by a cast of eight characters who are deeply affected by the strings they received. The length of the string parallels the length of your life. All the characters are struggling with their results because even if he or she gets a long string, there will still be people they know will be gone soon.How the world at large handles the strings was so well done. People are switching boxes hoping it could change their destiny. Support groups are offered. Protests occur. The world is in a very different place. Much of this book made me think about the differences between fate and destiny. This story offers many intertwined connections between the characters that makes for a powerful and meaningful ending. Iโm so looking forward to whatโs next from this author. @nikkierlick @williammorrowbooks William Morrow ๐ Would you open a box that told you how long your lifespan is?#themeasure #scifilight#bookreader #bookclubpick #goodbookfairy... See MoreSee Less