The Nature of Fragile Things (Unabridged)
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4.4 • 184 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
April 18, 1906: A massive earthquake rocks San Francisco just before daybreak, igniting a devouring inferno. Lives are lost, lives are shattered, but some rise from the ashes forever changed.
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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The 1906 San Francisco earthquake shakes up the lives of a young woman and her ward in Susan Meissner’s captivating tale, which is loosely based on actual events. Irish immigrant Sophie runs from her past and into the arms of a mysterious, handsome stranger who lives with his five-year-old daughter in San Francisco. But when an unexpected visitor and a devastating earthquake unearth dark secrets, Sophie realizes that her comfortable new life is far more dangerous than she thought. Susan Meissner is a master of historical fiction, crafting a thrilling, impeccably researched tale full of descriptive prose and relatable characters. We especially enjoyed the rich details about San Francisco, dramatically enhanced by narrator Alana Kerr Collins’ charming Irish brogue. This is a startling yet hopeful story about the bonds between women.
Customer Reviews
Loved this book
This book came out of nowhere with how captivating it was. It hooked me in from the first page to the last. I loved the historical aspects of this story as someone from San Francisco myself and I thought the story itself was intriguing, with some twists and turns that left me with feelings of excitement and curiosity.
San Francisco, 1906
I chose this book because I wanted to learn more about the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco. The focus is more on the characters than the actual earthquake. Still, the story line is good and the characters are very interesting. I enjoyed the beginning and the end of the plot, but there was too much recap in the middle. The author kept repeating the same thing instead of moving the story along. Because I’ve spent a lot of time in San Francisco, it was easy to picture this story in my head and I enjoyed that aspect of this book.
Lovely
Beautifully written and narrated. Great listen!