This was a wonderful book. It kept me interested and invested in the characters. I am very impressed with the way the writer describes the San Francisco earthquake and aftermath.

Great book. Highly recommend!

I had never read a book by Susan Meissner prior to this one. It is evident she is a talented writer. The synopsis leads you to believe it is about the 1906 earth quake in San Francisco that devastated the city. It is about that, but also so much more. It is about belonging, what makes a family and so , so much more. I have to say I definitely was not expecting where this story went, but it ended up being alright with me that it did that. The characters are richly developed and the plot supports great and interesting detail without being over powering. I have to say at first I wasn't jiving with this book, I self it dragged a bit, but then around thirty percent, I found my rhythm with it and finished it before I knew it. It was nice to read a historical fiction not surrounding WW I or II and a book that carried both a historical aspect and broader story, which in this case held much mystery and intrigue. I would definitely recommend this to historical fiction fans.

Wow, what a great book! I've recently gotten away from reading historical fiction, but having always liked Susan Meissner, I decided to give this one a whirl - and I wasn't disappointed! The characters are captivating and come alive. You'll find yourself rooting for Sophie, the main character, who marries the mysterious Martin Hocking without knowing him and who then becomes involved in series of events that leads to a well thought-out conclusion. This book is fantastic from start to finish, a solid 5 stars.

Captivating, mysterious, and absorbing!

THE NATURE OF FRAGILE THINGS by SUSAN MEISSNER is such a beautifully written suspenseful and heartfelt historical fiction that kept me interested right to the very end.

The story was entertaining, emotional, and powerful.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing, and Susan Meissner for my review copy!

This was such a beautiful read. I felt so immersed in the story throughout the entire book and didn't want it to end. The pace was fantastic and I loved the way that the novel was structured. This sparked my love for historical fiction.

This book drew me in from the very first page. Set in 1905, the story is told from Sophie's point of view - an Irish immigrant to the US who finds herself answering a mail-order bride ad to escape the poverty of the New York tenements. She marries her husband within minutes of meeting him and decides to accept his young daughter as if she were her own. Sophie tries to make the most of her unusual situation until the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 brings her world crumbling down (quite literally).

This is historical fiction at its best - a setting and time period that is unfamiliar but then immediately relatable, as well as characters that are lovably timeless. I loved how there were so many obstacles facing Sophie that she was able to overcome with true grit and a dose of compassion and honesty. There were also plenty of twists in the plot for me to feel as uneasy as Sophie when strange circumstances arose.

I'll be recommending this book to fans of historical fiction or anyone who's interested in an extremely well-told drama. I can't wait to check out Susan Meissner's other titles now!

I enjoyed this book so much, I knew very little about the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, so I learned a lot. The book was well written, with good character development and good pacing. I would recommend it, and I am grateful that I was given the opportunity to read it.

How does one write a review for a book as fabulous as this one?
I am still trying to grasp and come to terms with what happened in it and the very unexpected ending!
The writing was very atmospheric, the descriptions surely made me feel as though I was there experiencing the earthquake and subsequent fire it caused.
I was honestly memorized by the writing and when not reading the book was thinking about it and how things would progress.
A remarkable woman rises from a life of despair and poverty and instead of feeling sorry for herself she is able to call upon a superb inner strength and not only make things better for herself but the women around her.
Her strength rises from the ashes surrounding her in 1906 San Francisco with an unstoppable force not to be denied.
A web of lies,dark secrets,deception and lives irrevocably shattered never to be pieced together again as they were .
If you read just one historical book this year make it this one!

Pub Date 02 Feb 2021
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.

This is one of my favorite books I have read lately. The setting and time period were unique and the clever way the author hinted at things to come just propelled me forward to find out more. The unlikely friendship between the women was wonderful. I am telling rvrryone to read this book!

I absolutely LOVED and adored this book. It's an eye-opening historical fiction with an undercurrent of suspense throughout. The stories of friendship and love are absolutely precious. I am a sensitive reader, so I'm thankful the sickness of the twisted husband wasn't magnified any more than it was. I am so eager to know if Meissner based the husband on a real character! Thank you for allowing me to read and review this!!!

This book will surely be one of the best books I will read in 2021. Sophie Whalen's life is not what it seems, and it only gets more mysterious. When the San Francisco earthquake hits, one would think that they've hit the climax of the book, but one would be wrong. The novel has so many twists and turns, it's amazing that they all fit so well together. Susan Meissner is a stellar writer, and this book more than proves it.

I’m fascinated by the idea of mail order brides, by the idea of a young woman getting on a train and heading west to marry a man she’s never met. But The Nature of Fragile Things is about so much more than mail order brides. It’s exceptional historical fiction centered around an actual event (in this case the earthquake of 1906). It’s about the power of female friendship and being a mother, and it’s one that I definitely recommend find its way onto your TBR, and I hope that you enjoy it every bit as much as I did.

I love reading historical fiction to learn more about pieces of history I know nothing or very little about and this time period is no exception. The pacing of this story was excellent with strategically placed police interrogation interviews intertwined throughout the story. Suzan Meissner is a brilliant storyteller and makes you feel so much for these characters and feel their strength, loss, friendship, and sacrifice. Sophie is an incredible character and one of my favorites I've read recently. She is complex, resilient, and with such a pure heart. This is such a phenomenal historical fiction read that will appeal to all audiences. ⁣
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Thank you to @beritaudiokilledthebookmark for organizing the buddy read for this fantastic book! And thank you to @berkleypub and @soozmeissner for my advanced copy!⁣
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Wonderfully written, and held my attention from the beginning. I felt transported to historical San Francisco, and was invested in Sophie, wanting to warn her away from what you thought was coming!

I want to start by telling you I am a HUGE fan of Susan Meissners books so I went into this one already knowing I would love it and guess what? I did, I loved it so much I didn’t want it to end. Susan is the sweetest human and her calm demeanor and way with words goes into her characters and creates the perfect story. I enjoy reading her books and learning so much about a time in history that I’m not familiar with such as the war brides, the Spanish flu, the internment camps, and now the San Francisco earthquake. I loved The Nature of Fragile Things and I know you will too.
Sophie left her home to get away from her past but living in New York alone has her struggling both financially and emotionally. When she reads an ad in the paper that a man in California is looking for a wife and a mother for his small child she knows this is a way to start over. Martin is a wealthy widow who isn’t interested in finding love but wanting to have the appearance of a wife and someone to care for his daughter Kat. Frankly Sophie is just fine with keeping things all business and she has always dreamed of being a mother so she knows things will work out just fine. Martin travels for work but always makes sure they have everything they need while he’s gone. Little things make Sophie second guess whether Martin is being truthful or not like the scent of a woman’s perfume on his clothes, the locked drawers in his office, and most recently some strange bottles of liquid he claims are hair tonic that he’s storing for a friend. Sophie considers the fact that she lives in a beautiful home with nice clothes and plenty of food and a sweet little girl to love and decides to turn a blind eye to whatever Martin is doing behind her back. “I don’t think love is something you can start and stop by choosing. Our hearts tell us who we will love, not the other way.”
When a very pregnant woman arrives at her doorstep looking for her husband Sophie realizes the life she knew was crumbling right before her eyes. This woman and Sophie have something that ties them together and when Martin comes home to find the two women together his anger is enough to make the earth shake quite literally .The two women and Kat are able to escape but many won’t be so lucky as the San Francisco earthquake causes many to lose their lives and homes. Sophie will learn much about her husband and why he really chose to marry her, and she’ll need to make some very hard decisions when it comes to her sweet daughter Kat. She stands to lose everything but if she can figure out a way she can walk away with everything she’s ever wanted and more.

Oh did this novel exceed all of my expectations...I was not thinking this would be that suspenseful!

This book begins with Sophie Whalen, an Irish immigrant, looking to escape her less-than-fortunate situation in New York. She answers a newspaper ad to fill the spot of wife and mother for the Hocking family in San Francisco. Mr. Hocking is rather aloof while Sophie quickly makes strides with his 5 year old daughter, Kat. However, an unexpected guest brings more questions than answers about Mr. Hocking and Sophie is left wondering who she married. All of this leads up to the massive San Francisco earthquake of 1906, which gives Sophie an opportunity to act on her new information.

Overall, I give this 5 stars out of 5. I expected this to be a good historical fiction novel, but I wasn’t ready for all the twists and turns! I highly recommend this, especially for historical fiction and suspense lovers!

Thank you to @netgalley and @berkleypub for this review copy in exchange for my honest review.

San Francisco, 1906. Sophie Hocking is questioned by the US Marshal. Her husband is missing, and she waited six weeks after the San Francisco earthquake to report him missing. Why?

A year earlier. Sophie after emigrating from Ireland to NYC is now traveling to San Francisco. She is to marry a widower with a five-year-old daughter who placed an advertisement looking for a wife and mother to his child. He wanted someone from the East coast where he was from. Someone he didn’t need to cuddle and who could step into a role he needed her to play.

As soon as she arrives in San Francisco, she notices his absence more than she anticipated, as he works for insurance company which frequently takes him on the road. He seems to be taking care of lots of details; details he doesn’t name. She gets “accustomed to knowing very little about his stints on the road or even about his occupation…” until someone appears at her doorstep. A young pregnant woman is looking for her missing husband. Now, the questions are mounting.

I enjoyed the character of Sophie very much. You can hear the Irish when she rolls words off her tongue. When she describes her first steps as an immigrant - a very poor one - subletting a room the size of a pantry with four other tenants. You see it with your own eyes the hardship she experienced and what propelled her to answer to an advertisement and to travel across the country. You can feel her infectious love for the five-year-old girl. And you can feel her contagious excitement to meet her new neighbor across the street, only to realize that she is being treated as a charity case. She is a strong woman who doesn’t need a charity friendship. She wants real friends.

The aftermath of the earthquake is vividly presented, with aftershocks and with fires burning for three days resulting in a massive devastation of the city. The parks or any green space, or any pew in a church are filled with evacuees and injured. You can sense helplessness in finding someone missing. And witness some opportunistic people taking advantage of the situation and charging exorbitant fees for their services.

Seamlessly woven story with intricately developed characters that takes a reader on a fast-paced journey. Mystery unrolls with each page. It is engaging from the very first page to the very last one. The plotting convincingly immerses a reader in the events, both historical and fictional.

Originally posted at mysteryandsuspense.com

What I love about historical fiction is that while it’s NOT my go to genre, whenever I do pick them up I tend to find THE most amazing stories.

Meissner’s story about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake was a complete surprise to me, I absolutely loved this story.

Who would have thought a mail order bride + drama with her husband would turn out to be such an enrapturing story, tying together two women in an unexpected story of family, secrets and surviving a natural disaster.

Learning the history of this event that I previously knew next to nothing about, mixed with a beautiful story full of characters with such heart and the belief that LOVE can overcome all had me wanting to devour this book in one sitting - I’m so glad I got the chance to read this one!

Thank you to Berkley for my gifted copy of this eARC as part of the #BerkleyBuddyReads #BerkleyWritesStrongWomen reads, and to Uplit Reads for having me on your book tour!

Beware, so long as you live, of judging men by their outward appearance. - Jean de La Fontaine

Young Sophie Whalen emigrated from Ireland to New York City in 1905, escaping a past she wants to forget. But New York City is almost unliveable because of filth and hunger and living conditions. So Sophie answers a newspaper ad to become a mail-order bride. She travels cross country by train to San Francisco and is soon married a widower father with a young daughter.

It doesn't take long for Sophie to start questioning the actions of her new husband, who she believes is some sort of insurance agent and travels a lot, leaving Sophie and her new daughter Kat in their new home in San Francisco.

Events start coming to a head when a young pregnant woman appears at her door, questions are asked and answered and then...the terrible 1906 earthquake hits San Francisco and the surrounding areas are devastated.

I enjoyed this story very much. I liked the well-developed characterization of Sophie and other secondary characters.

I was saddened by the in-depth look at the April 1906 San Francisco earthquake. I had heard about it but didn't realize just how overwhelmingly devastating the event was.

I lived fairly near to San Francisco in 1989 and had and have been there many times and seeing the damage from this lesser earthquake was terrifying enough. I don't even know how many times I had driven on the Bay Bridge before the quake but it was almost unbelievable seeing it collapsed on television.

I highly recommend this book to you if you enjoy thrillers, stories about mail-order brides, or stories about the 1906 earthquake.

I received this book from Berkley Publishing through Edelweiss and from Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

Sophie is an Irish immigrant living in New York when she becomes a mail order bride and moves to San Francisco to marry her new husband. She quickly settles into their new home and becomes close to his daughter, Kat. Although their arrangement is unconventional, Sophie has no idea just how unconventional her husband is.

With the backdrop of the city of San Francisco at the turn of the last century, and the plot hinging on the big earthquake of 1906, this book is historically rich and well researched. The descriptions of trips into the city were so engaging; the shops, the streetcars. I loved the description of the earthquake and how it affected the city.

The twists in the plot are great, and I was kept on tenterhooks until the end. I did think though that the ending was a little abrupt, and I had expected more questions to be answered.

Susan Meissner is a new author for me and I’m definitely looking forward to reading more of her historical fiction.