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Sophie Whalen is a young Irish immigrant so desperate to get out of a New York tenement that she answers a mail-order bride ad and agrees to marry a man she knows nothing about. San Francisco widower Martin Hocking proves to be as aloof as he is mesmerizingly handsome. Sophie quickly develops deep affection for Kat, Martin's silent five-year-old daughter, but Martin's odd behavior leaves her with the uneasy feeling that something about her newfound situation isn't right.
Then one early-spring evening, a stranger at the door sets in motion a transforming chain of events. Sophie discovers hidden ties to two other women. The first, pretty and pregnant, is standing on her doorstep. The second is hundreds of miles away in the American Southwest, grieving the loss of everything she once loved.
The fates of these three women intertwine on the eve of the devastating earthquake, thrusting them onto a perilous journey that will test their resiliency and resolve and, ultimately, their belief that love can overcome fear.
From the acclaimed author of The Last Year of the War and As Bright as Heaven comes a gripping novel about the bonds of friendship and mother love, and the power of female solidarity.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Awards
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Release date
February 2, 2021 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780593346952
- File size: 306904 KB
- Duration: 10:39:22
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Starred review from December 21, 2020
Meissner (The Last Year of the War) spins an exceptional story about an Irish immigrant who lands in San Francisco shortly before the 1906 earthquake. After spending two years in New York City, Sophie Whalen, 20, answers a newspaper ad from widower Martin Hocking of San Francisco, who is seeking a wife for him and a mother for his daughter. Sophie falls head over heels for Martin’s five-year-old daughter, Kat, having given up having a child of her own, and looks forward to developing a bond with her new husband. But Sophie learns that all is not as it seems when a pregnant woman named Belinda Bigelow shows up on her doorstep hours before the earthquake, looking for her husband, James, who told Belinda he had business with Martin. Upon seeing a picture of Martin, Belinda recognizes him as James. This leads the two women to go through Martin’s papers, and they deduce he’d married both of them under different names. Unexpected and masterfully crafted twists and turns abound after the earthquake, as a federal marshall questions Sophie about Martin’s disappearance. The plucky and principled Sophie (who is hiding a few secrets of her own) captivates from the first page, while naive Belinda and sensitive Kat are standouts. Ingeniously plotted and perfectly structured, this captivates from beginning to end. -
Alana Kerr Collins narrates this audiobook in a lovely Irish lilt that gives credibility to the young protagonist, Sophie Whelan, an immigrant whose fortunes we follow. Collins's revealing yet subtle tone is matched by that of Jason Culp, who portrays Marshal Logan, whose matter-of-fact questioning is woven into the story. The pair's narration styles suit this novel in which good triumphs over evil. Desperate to escape the slums of New York, Sophie becomes a mail-order bride and marries the mysterious Martin Hocking. The action takes place in San Francisco before, during, and after the 1906 earthquake. That disaster overlays the evolving mystery. Perfidy abounds. The audiobook becomes a story of three courageous women--all connected to the despicable Hocking. Their strength and bravery win the day. A.D.M. 2022 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
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