Julie Dewey

This semi fictional story is a direct tie-in to the non-fiction book The Things They Left Behind. Based on the suitcases that were discovered in an abandoned Insane Asylum in New York. The author of this book is a distant relative to a woman who had supposedly spend some time in this Asylum in her younger years. The story of her life has been fictionalized based on family stories carried down through the years. The fact that they found her suitcase among the ones in the asylum may or may not be true but the story ties into that time period. The writing of this book was a bit juvenile, and choppy but still a good story for a rainy afternoon.… (mehr)

I received a copy of this book for an honest review.

I wanted to love this book I enjoy the era the author attempted to set her tale in, but the books were riddled with anachronistic wording. When writing a historical fiction an author must carefully research the era they are setting their piece in if they want their work to sound authentic.

I found the number of and quality of the sex scenes in this book very off-putting. It is understandable that there be some, do to the characters and situations in the novel, but I felt they over done and tasteless.

While this book doesn't have as many grammatical errors as some self-published works, it still had too many for my taste.

This author has promise, but needs to work more on her historical research research if she wants to produce quality historical fiction.
… (mehr)

Kirkus

KIRKUS REVIEW

An epic tale of the interlocking paths of orphans struggling to survive in 19th-century New York.

Tabitha Colleen Salt was born in 1850 on a farm in Westchester, New York, to loving parents. When her father died, her mother moved the two of them to New York City. They lived in the notorious Five Points District, known for its clamor, debauchery, and merciless gangs. Tabitha and her mother, Maura Anne Salt, manage to make ends meet, but Maura dies suddenly from dental surgery, and Tabitha is left to fend for herself. Not quite 11, she briefly lives under a stoop and makes fast friends with Scotty, already a hardened street kid. She moves to the Elizabeth Home for Girls and is sent westward by train as a part of a program to find suitable homes for orphans removed from the dangers and temptations of city life. Sister Agnes shows Tabitha great kindness, encourages her to forget her past, and rechristens her Mary. Mary cares for young orphan Edmund while on the train, and the two grow close like siblings. Mary and Edmund are adopted by families that live close to each other, and Mary quickly discovers that Scotty was adopted by a family nearby as well. Mary and Scotty eventually fall in love, while Edmund’s affections are captured by Gert; she, too, is an orphan who, emulating her mother, turns to prostitution to survive. Author Dewey is an experienced novelist (The Other Side of the Fence, 2015, etc.), and her skill shines through her artful braiding of several complex narratives. While Mary is the protagonist, much of the plot unfurls from the perspectives of the other orphans. Dewey affectingly depicts the stranglehold the orphans’ pasts exert over their present lives and the tenacity with which they embrace love and loyalty. Sometimes, the story takes a grim turn, but tragedy is never gratuitously introduced to this implausibly heartwarming novel.

A vivid dramatization of the plight of orphans, both poignant and historically sound.… (mehr)