TITLE/AUTHOR: Vera; Carol Edgarian
PUBLISHER: Scribner
YEAR PUBLISHED: 2021
GENRE: Fiction / Historical Fiction
FORMAT: eGalley / LENGTH: 336 pp
SOURCE: NetGalley download
SETTING(s): San Francisco, CA
ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY: Not the engaging piece of historical fiction I was hoping for.
BRIEF REVIEW: When I read that Vera was set around the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and resulting fires, I couldn't wait to read it. I recently read another historical novel set around the 1906 earthquake, The Nature of Fragile Things; Susan Meissner which I loved. Unfortunately, Vera was a bit of a disappointment for me.
Vera Johnson is a fifteen year old girl just trying to find her place in the world. Her real mother is Rose, who runs San Francisco's most famous brothel and, it is only a few times a year that she actually gets to see her. The olive-skinned, Vera lives with a widowed foster mother Morie, a light-skinned, Swedish woman who Rose pays to care for her illegitimate daughter, Vera. Morie also has another daughter, eighteen year old Pie. The two girls are quite different, where Pie is easy going and innocent with simple dreams, Vera is far more complicated, bold and determined. When the 1906 earthquake and resulting fires hit the city just days after Vera's fifteenth birthday and Morie ends up dead, Vera and Pie must do what it takes to survive a city in chaos. As they make their way to Rose's Pacific Heights mansion they find out that she isn't even around. Not sure whether Rose is dead or alive, it's here that Vera's strength and determination is needed most.
While I'm sure that the author did her research while writing this novel about the 1906 earthquake, I felt the plot was way more involved and complicated than it really needed to be. The characters were plentiful yet very few were memorable for me.
RATING: 2.5/5 stars
Skipping this one then.
ReplyDeleteThink too many good books, too little time:)
DeleteI was going to say, I think I read a review of a book from the same historical point from your blog. I'm eager to read that and now, this.
ReplyDeleteI hope you like it but, IMO, it was a lot of work getting through it.
DeleteDang, that's such a disappointment, that could have been interesting.
ReplyDeleteHate when that happens.
DeleteThat's too bad.
ReplyDelete:(
DeleteTry Nature of Fragile Things -- Vicki.
ReplyDeleteGetting through this one was rough. It shouldn't leave you exhausted at the end of reading a book. The girls were okay but they ran around a lot and there was so much about the cook and really, why? It's not good when a building falls on a person, kills them, and you don't even care. Right?
ReplyDeleteYour comment made me smile LOL (enough said).
DeleteWhat a disappointment.
ReplyDeleteI've seen this reviewed quite a bit, but it doesn't appeal to me. Sorry it wasn't what you'd hoped for.
ReplyDeleteI think I will pass on this one. Others have not liked it either. Too bad ... subject matter seems good.
ReplyDelete