"Everyone knows this is a dangerous business, but between you and me, being a woman is a dangerous business, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
Thus we enter the world of Jane Smiley's new historical novel. And let me say; for a novel featuring a heroine who works in a brothel who is on the hunt for a serial killer of prostitutes, this is, weirdly, a quiet, thoughtful novel. Given the description of the characters and plot, it certainly wasn't what I was expecting. And, to quote Stuart Smalley, "that's okay". In fact it was more than okay as I found myself loving getting to know Eliza Ripple and how she was navigating her new life and her explorations into the murders.
Eliza had come to Monterey, CA (from Michigan) as an eighteen-year-old bride in 1851. Though her husband was two decades older than her, she looked forward to starting a new life with him. She soon realizes that her supposedly well-off husband is anything but and he's emotionally abusive to boot. So when two years after their marriage he's killed in a bar brawl, Eliza doesn't shed a tear. Instead, the practical and intelligent young woman accepts Mrs. Parker's offer of a job in her brothel. There, though she sees two or three men a night, she finds independence and financial security for the first time in her life. And she finds friendship with another woman who works for her money, Jean. When the two young women discover the body of another girl, they begin to realize that someone is targeting the sex workers of Monterrey and no one but them seems to care. And while at first they begin to investigate because of their fascination for the stories of Edgar Allen Poe, they are drawn deeper when they realize the killer may be known to them.
Smiley clearly did her research as her mid-19th century coastal California town and its inhabitants comes to life from the first pages. And though the pacing is measured and the tone softly rendered, the author carefully depicts the world as it was. Though Eliza likes the independence she's gained as a sex-worker, Smiley doesn't shy away from the dangers of the job (besides serial killers). And she uses the social history of a divisive time when America is on the brink of war to give complexity to the world she's drawn. Highly recommended.