The Secret Life of Mrs. London by Rebecca Rosenberg is a good historical fiction about the wife of Jack London, taking place around 1915, and depicting the epitome of the brilliant woman behind “the man”. Full of infidelity, desires, and acceptance of mental manipulation by her husband, this talented muse finds her way. Mingling with the Great Houdini and his influence during this era, this novel was certainly interesting. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher. All opinions are my own.

I love reading about “the woman behind the man”. I went down a rabbit hole after reading this book and learned a lot. That to me is a true sign of GREAT historical fiction

The Secret Life of Mrs. London by Rebecca Rosenberg is a fabulous read and lingered long after I closed the back cover. From the opening scenes of Charmian and Jack sparring in the boxing ring, it kept me turning the pages. From intriguing political debates, to their writing life, Jack and Charmian London’s friendship with Harry Houdini and his wife, Bess, plus their love triangle is told through a lot of delicious details.

Even though I am a long-time admirer of Jack London’s work, I haven’t read anything before about Jack or his wife, Charmian. And as the title of the novel suggests, the character I am most interested in is Charmian. Her education, spirit, and literary pursuits in the early 1900’s must have seemed daunting. Inspiring. Both Jack and Charmain are big personalities and colorful people full of as much magic as a Houdini act. But this is the heart of their conflicts too.

Charmian’s tale weaves it’s way around and beside Jack’s, and Charmian does achieve success as a writer of her own material. She achieves some of that success in the later part of the story, and who better than Charmian to put on the boxing gloves again, so to speak, and fight for the right to write the biography of Jack.

Some of the delicious details are related to food and this is no surprise because Rebecca was the director of Worth Our Weight, an educational culinary program for at risk children, in California.

Here’s a description of Thanksgiving at Jack and Charmian’s Beauty Ranch.

“Dinner is served, everyone.” I hold my hand out to Bessie. “Follow me.” Nakata opens the heavy wood doors to the dining room, and our guests reel back and gasp. I myself can’t believe the sight. “Oh my goodness, oh my goodness.” Bessie flutter claps. “It’s a fairy tale.” Garlands of colorful leaves festoon the stone walls, lined with French wine barrels. Our long table, hewn from a giant redwood, stretches twenty feet into the far side of the room. Down the middle, beeswax candles in wine bottles illuminate plump, round pumpkins; gnarled gourds; and Indian corn speckled scarlet and gold. Woven palm place mats set with pewter plates and utensils flank the sides of the table, replete with four different wineglasses for Buena Vista sparkling wine, Kunde Gewürztraminer and Cabernet, and our own late-harvest Riesling. Jack says we can never have too many wine glasses.”

Do you think that’s true?

San Francisco, 1915: As America teeters on the brink of war, Charmain London longs to be seen as an equal partner to her famous husband, Jack London. She put her own career on hold to support Jack but he doesn't seem to see things that way, until Charmain is pulled from the audience during a magic show performed by escape artist, Harry Houdini. Charmain finds herself charmed by the attention Houdini is showering upon her, her eyes opening to a new world of possibilities that could be her escape. As Jack's increasingly erratic behavior threatens to erode her loyalty, she finds herself torn between two of the most mysterious and charismatic men in history. Charmain must find the courage to forge her own path, while trying to hold onto everything she holds dear.

Rebecca Rosenberg truly excelled in character development in this historical novel and making you feel the conflict that Charmain truly finds herself in. She doesn't want to lose the life that she loves but she's tempted by the intrigue and attention she's getting from Houdini. Rosenberg grapples with difficult issues like women's rights and the great war with understanding. She handles the relationships between the characters with great diplomacy. I truly enjoyed reading this historical novel. Rosenberg is very talented.

A great work of historical fiction that focuses on the era as well as the lives of the characters. Rebecca Rosenberg is an author to watch!

This was a did not finish book for me. I just couldn’t get past the first few chapters. Oh well. Sometimes that’s how books are.

I love historical fiction anyway so was very intrigued by the blurb of this novel and it did not disappoint. It is a fictional account of Charmian London, the wife of Jack London the famous author. His novels were classics. Their life together was full of romance, intrigue and genius. When Jack and Charmian attend a performance by Harry Houdini the escapologist Charmian becomes intrigued with Harry and with his troubled wife Bessie. Charmian was besotted with her husband Jack. She was devoted to him but for him fidelity was a problem. This led her to stray and have extra marital affairs also. Rebecca Rosenberg did significant research as she wrote this book. It was interesting and very intriguing. It was definitely a page turner. Although fictitious it gave very good insight in to the loved and lives of some very interesting people. I would highly recommend.

Jack London is in the middle of his career and has already been through some interesting personal things and is currently married to a woman who is both a muse and almost a personal assistant as she is helping move his career along. Charmain London was older than Jack London and really was a big part of the second half of his career and this book focuses on her life.

Going into this book I didn't know much about Jack London - his career or his life. I loved reading this book through the lens of his wife, Charmain. It was so intriguing how vital to his career she was enough that it really dwarfed and impacted her own pursuits and how diminished she was standing next to this larger than life character. I think seeing this story through her the reader was really able to see her true feelings.

With a bit of spoiler one of the things I enjoyed was that the story went beyond his death. I was glad that the author didn't end Charmain's story with his death because she had a life after his death and it was interesting to see the parts where she is dealing with his death and trying to decide what she wants to do with herself apart from him.

I liked this book, but it wasn't one of my favorite historical fiction books. It was more with the writing and the flow of things that just didn't always work for me. I was glad to learn about these historical figures and get a peek into their lives, but the arc of the story didn't have the flow that I usually like when reading historical fiction.

This book is absolutely amazing! I can not say enough great things about it!! If you are a historical fiction fan - you will love this book!! Rebecca's research is impeccable and I enjoyed every word!!

I couldn't get into this book however i wouldn't discourage others from reading it as they may enjoy it

A warm, wonderful, beautifully detailed portrait of the resourceful and ahead-of-her time Charmian London, Jack London's wife, Mate-Woman, and muse. Rosenberg vividly brings to life the tensions that tore at their marriage, and the characters of Harry Houdini and his wife, Bess, steal every scene they're in. A well-crafted, well-paced novel that richly imagines what life would have been like for an independent, ambitious woman struggling to emerge from the shadow of her famous and charismatic lovers.

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#2 WIKI Marvelous Novels of 20th Century!
2018 BEST NEW NOVEL Center for Fiction nomination!

On the surface, The Secret Life of Mrs. London is about the love triangle between the Houdinis and Londons, but many themes begged to be explored throughout.

--Must you be faithful when marital needs are never met?
--How do you live with the demands of a mercurial genius?
--When are words of love not enough?
--When is friendship stronger than passion?

Charmian London was a force of nature, a horsewoman, swimmer, pianist, painter, writer. And typist and editor of the most popular writer of their times. Remember, however that it was 1915. Women would not get the right to vote for another five years. These women were pushing to expand the boundaries of women's roles, while still trying to break out of the cast-iron mold of Victorian women. Charmian was known for her free-loving spirit, but having read her diaries, some of that was an act to keep the great Jack London interested. Many of Jack London's female characters were fashioned from Charmian. As he writes in "Martin Eden" :

“Here was intellectual life, he thought, and here was beauty, warm and wonderful as he had never dreamed it could be. He forgot himself and stared at her with hungry eyes. Here was something to live for, to win to, to fight for—ay, and die for. The books were true. There were such women in the world. She was one of them. She lent wings to his imagination, and great, luminous canvases spread themselves before him whereon loomed vague, gigantic figures of love and romance, and of heroic deeds for woman’s sake—for a pale woman, a flower of gold. And through the swaying, palpitant vision, as through a fairy mirage, he stared at the real woman, sitting there and talking of literature and art. He listened as well, but he stared, unconscious of the fixity of his gaze or of the fact that all that was essentially masculine in his nature was shining in his eyes.”

― Jack London, Martin Eden

When I first started this book, I had a hard time getting into it. But I was able to sit down and read about 70% of the book on one sitting. I was pulled in!
What a great story of mystery and intrigue! Jack London lived a life of pampering and luxary, which came at a great cost. He had to slave away with his writing, often using his wife Charmaine to print as he spoke.
The Houdini's were an interesting match. Bessie was like an child trapped an adult's body. She never seemed to really complete Houdini (in my eyes). Which is why he often strayed but he kept his wife happy with dolls and things.

This is an engaging look at the life of Jack London and his wife. It was well-written and made the setting come alive.

Historical fiction isn’t a genre I generally choose but this book is our current Pulpwood Queens Bookclub pick. What I love most about bookclub (aside from friends and wine) is that I read books I may never have chosen or even heard of! This was a very interesting story filled with many interesting characters and it portrays the complexity most relationships encompass. I concluded from the story that free love isn’t attainable as nothing is free.

Charmain London loves her husband Jack, the famous author, but sometimes their marriage feels like a boxing match both literally and figuratively. He longs to be surrounded by his comrades and friends while he holds court at his agrarian utopia, Beauty Ranch, while Charmain, his Mate-Woman, longs to be alone with him. She longs to share the same bed, feel his arms around her, but instead he uses his mate as he sees fit, even if it's fodder for his new book, The Little Lady of the Big House. He seems to be pushing her into the arms of their friend Lawrence all for his narrative needs. But when Charmain finally succumbs their world comes crashing down. Because that's the night that she not only betrayed her husband, but the night Wolf House, Jack's dream home, the monument to his success, what they had scrimped and saved and slaved for for years burned to the ground. Did Jack set the fire himself realizing what he drove his wife to? Or did Lawrence set the fire because he knew Charmain would never be his for more than a few moments? All this and more hangs over the couple when someone new enters their life. One night they go to see Houdini perform in San Francisco and Charmain is brought on stage to assist Houdini and his with Bess with their "Metamorphosis" act. Afterwards the two couples go out for dinner and Charmain and Bessie form a friendship over the struggles of loving men who are larger than life. Their friendship just begun must soon be tried as Jack's ill health returns and Charmain decides to take him to Hawaii, where they were happiest. Hopefully the magic will return to their marriage. Only she can't help thinking of another magic man... Houdini has worked his way into her heart and he will be there for her when she needs him most. But is it right to fall for her friend's husband? And who is she without Jack?

There are certain shared experiences that everyone connects to. A historical event you remember, a book you read, a movie you saw. These events make up our collective unconscious. Let's take The Call of the Wild. Every schoolkid growing up in America has in all likelihood read Jack London's The Call of the Wild or White Fang. In fact they're probably the only books your teachers made you read that you rather enjoyed. For me it was The Call of the Wild in seventh grade and I can still remember Buck's journey as being an escape from the drudgery and crippling amount of schoolwork. We all have Jack London's second wife and subject of this book, Charmain London, to thank for championing him after his death and making sure he became a part of our collective unconscious. Though for most of us it's been years, perhaps decades since we read these books and therefore the power of Jack London's writing is forgotten amongst his narrative. Recently I was rewatching Northern Exposure and I was reliving my main obsession with the show, which was my love of the ex-con DJ Chris Stevens, when I had the delightful surprise of Chris reading from The Call of the Wild. During the season three episode, "The Three Amigos," the words of Jack London served as a counterpoint to Maurice and Holling journeying out into the wilderness to bury their friend. But what struck me was the lyricism and power of London's writing. Sometimes just reading a book doesn't give you the full experience, you have to hear it aloud to fully appreciate it.

This new appreciation of London's writing was one of the reasons I was drawn to The Secret Life of Mrs. London and signed up for this blog tour. Rebecca Rosenberg's book deepened my admiration of London as she has begun each chapter in the first two parts with a quote from London's writing, whether novel or letter. It's a bold choice for a first time author. Because no matter what, the reader is going to compare her writing to London's, whether that was the intent or not. Whether her writing holds up... that's another question. Rosenberg tells her story plainly and interestingly, but she never reaches the lyricism of London. Yet this works in her favor. London's writing, while beautiful, can be a bit inaccessible. Sometimes it's so dense that it takes several readings to understand what he's getting at. Whereas Rosenberg's writing is accessible. She never hides her story behind verbose verbiage. This helps to mirror and bring home to the reader the loving yet somewhat antagonistic relationship between Charmain and Jack. Charmain is so relatable and Jack is a bit enigmatic, his motives even questioned by his wife, so that as a reader you can't help but root for Charmain. She is our heroine. Whatever happens, wherever she goes, whatever decisions she makes, both sound and slightly insane, by using London's own words against him we modern readers will always side with Charmain. She is our avatar to this world of literary wonders and she's able to make it real in a way London's writing doesn't for today's audience. No matter how much he was trying to capture the real on the page.

While reading The Secret Life of Mrs. London one can't help but think of 2016's much talked about and lauded book about Beryl Markham by Paula McLain, Circling the Sun. These are both women who were true originals, they were free spirits that didn't quite feel of their time. Adventurers that broke with conventions. What I find interesting is that many great writers live within these bubbles that are out of sync with their times and embrace free love. While Kenya was the haven for this kind of bed-hopping behavior, any community of artists would come under this kind of scrutiny and notoriety. They were known for standing out from the crowd and throwing convention to the wind. Rosenberg does a good job though in grounding Charmain within this lifestyle. This solid footing makes Charmain far more sympathetic and her actions understandable, not a betrayal to her husband. Being raised by her Aunt Netta she was exposed to a lifestyle that was fluid when it came to love, as Netta had two men in her life. Therefore when Charmain became London's lover and subsequently his second wife she understood that he was liable to wander. Being a very sexual being herself she understood this, but her dalliance that commences the book almost seems indulged in because it's what Jack wanted. He was playing a game with his wife for his own literary means. Yet she heavily feels her betrayal and when he betrays her in return it's just pain heaped on pain. They are by no means a functional couple, but they have a symbiotic relationship. They need each other, but at the same time they need more.

What Charmain ends up needing is Houdini, her Magic Man. What is so interesting about The Secret Life of Mrs. London is that it shows how truly messy love is. Jack is everything to Charmain, her home was where he was, and yet, despite him saying that she was his everything in return, it was clear through his infidelities that she wasn't. You can spout free love, but the truth of it was, Charmain wanted to remain loyal to her husband but her heart and her needs took her elsewhere. I don't know if the same could be said of her husband. Because she was willing to give him all the he got elsewhere, yet he never compromised and gave her what she needed. I couldn't help thinking about Hamilton while reading this book. Their wives, despite not having perfect husbands, are the ones who carried on their legacies, told their stories. Would London and Hamilton be this well remembered to this day if not for their beleaguered spouses? To an extent even Bessie Houdini carried on her husband's torch, holding a seance for him yearly after his death, just as he requested. All this is so interesting to me in that it's all about these women whose lives were in the shadows, yet were remarkable in their own right. History is putting them rightly back in their places and examining what their impact was. Charmain was Jack's editor and typist for years, her thoughts, her ideas, spun into his stories, and yet she is only remembered as Mrs. London. Living her life through these great men while never really living a life of her own. The end of the book gives you hope, but at the same time, she still, to this day, is only known as Mrs. London. Hopefully this book will help redress this wrong.

But now I must nitpick... Writing historical fiction that actually includes real historical figures as your leads is tricky. You are fictionalizing their life, to an extent. You have to get in their head and tell the story you want to tell but within the framework of their life, and I'm not convinced that Rebecca Rosenberg fully succeeds. The biggest problem I have is moving the burning down of Wolf House, Jack London's dream domicile, two years into the future so that it happens at the same time as the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. You can not do that! These are very specific set events! It's like saying, hey can we just move the start of World War I so that it fits my narrative better? Your narrative has to fit events not the other way around. Rosenberg admits that she condensed the timeline to be two instead of five years, but from my point of view she really didn't need to do this. The narrative could have easily spanned more time. The only reason I can see that this was done was in order for Charmain to think she was pregnant, father unknown, when she met the Houdinis. Which was, in my mind, unnecessary. But I'm sure Rosenberg would justify this with comparing the once fertile Charmain with the childlike Bessie... But back to my main point, Rosenberg has lots of weird time anomalies, some of which, such as the burning down of Wolf House I previously mentioned, I'm pretty sure she's aware of, as well as certain Houdini stunts that were shifted, while others are "words from the future." Yes, she uses words that are anachronistic to the time. Guess what? Pheromones didn't exist as a word until 1959, four years after Charmain died. A good editor should have flagged this... but editors, and good ones, are a dying breed. So authors, if you don't want your audience being temporarily taken out of the narrative, double and triple check everything.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookworms via Facebook for the ARC's for my Kindle.
I do enjoy historical fiction and found it interesting to read about Houdini and his wife plus Jack London and his 2nd wife Charmaine. But I didn't care much for the characters and the story.

This book was just okay for me. I was fascinated by the premise, I love stories of famous significant others. But for some reason I just didn't like either character. I did finish the book, and I enjoyed some of it, but I don't know if I would automatically pick this one up at the store if I had to.

Having read several books around the lives of the Hemingways and the Fitzgeralds, I was really looking forward to this book about the novelist Jack London, told from the point of view of his wife Charmian. Charmian is spell-bound by Jack, managing all aspects of his life both personal and professional, but he is dismissive towards her at best. I didn't know anything about them before reading, but the book was rich in detail and certainly piqued my interest about those involved. I especially enjoyed the section where the couple meet the Houdinis, who turned out to be the most engaging characters in the book for me. Thanks NetGalley!

Having grown up in the Napa Valley, I was quite excited to find this novel on Net Galley. I love reading about the wives of famous authors (e.g. Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, etc.), and since I was familiar with Jack London’s home in Glen Ellen, I couldn’t wait to get this one!

Here’s the overview:

Description
San Francisco, 1915. As America teeters on the brink of world war, Charmian and her husband, famed novelist Jack London, wrestle with genius and desire, politics and marital competitiveness. Charmian longs to be viewed as an equal partner who put her own career on hold to support her husband, but Jack doesn’t see it that way…until Charmian is pulled from the audience during a magic show by escape artist Harry Houdini, a man enmeshed in his own complicated marriage. Suddenly, charmed by the attention Houdini pays her and entranced by his sexual magnetism, Charmian’s eyes open to a world of possibilities that could be her escape.

As Charmian grapples with her urge to explore the forbidden, Jack’s increasingly reckless behavior threatens her dedication. Now torn between two of history’s most mysterious and charismatic figures, she must find the courage to forge her own path, even as she fears the loss of everything she holds dear.

A Note From the Publisher
California native Rebecca Rosenberg lives on a lavender farm with her family in Sonoma, the Valley of the Moon, where she and her husband own and operate the largest lavender-product company in America. A longtime student of Jack London’s work and an avid fan of his daring wife, Charmian, Rosenberg is a graduate of the Stanford Writing Certificate Program. The Secret Life of Mrs. London is her first novel.
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Before reading this novel, I knew next to nothing about Charmian London. What an interesting woman (who was very talented herself)! She was the glue that held Jack London together. London, probably not surprisingly, is portrayed as a struggling, somewhat tortured, weak in spirit but genius in mind, individual, and the story leads up to the end of his life. There were so many details in here that I did not know, and they are all based on fact and Rosenberg’s research. And let’s just say that I will never think about Houdini and his wife the same way again!
The descriptions of the Sonoma Valley are evocative of the real thing and the story flows easily, while building to a crescendo. I so enjoyed reading this novel and learning more about London’s life and his very interesting wife, Charmian.
Thank you for my review copy!