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. 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. I give this novel five stars you might enjoy it too.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. I listened to it on audio, and the reader did a great job, complete with a slight Irish brogue. This novel was neither profound nor consequential, but it was evocatively written, full of suspenseful twists. This was a good, entertaining novel with plenty of drama, feel good moments, tenacity of spirit, the promise of love, and the heart-saving reality of friendship. I liked this compelling story with its slow unveiling of secrets, and satisfying ending. The Nature of Fragile Things is a complex story that has some thoughtful and powerful themes in it including friendship, working together, trust, found family, survival, second chances, actions taken in desperation, moral ambiguity, and the vulnerability of women. I don’t want to say much more about the plot here to avoid spoilers. The mix of genres makes for a particularly interesting read.

This is a work of both historical fiction and mystery, woven together with characters I won’t soon forget. It is the nature of fire to burn.” The women in this book are not fragile, and I love a story of strong women. It is the nature of fragile things to break. The title stems from this quote, “It is the nature of the earth to shift. She is a remarkable woman who rises from a life of despair and poverty, calling upon her inner strength to make things better, not only for herself, but for the women all around her as well. As she adjusts to her new life, Sophie becomes more settled, until one day a knock at the door changes everything. The main character is compassionate, caring, loyal, brave, and determined.

The historical aspects of the story were well researched, and seamlessly woven into a larger glimpse of true hardship. Set during the time of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, she finds herself struggling in the earthquake’s aftermath. It is an incredible story of a young Irish immigrant, Sophie, who is desperate to get out of New York City, and comes to San Francisco as a mail order bride. I was engrossed all the way through to the end of this absorbing tale of survival, friendship, and motherhood.

The nature of fragile things reviews