Meg and Sylvie Townsend manage the family bookshop and care for their father, who still suffers the aftereffects of being a POW in the Civil War. When fire sweeps through the city, separating them, they reunite, only to discover their father is being accused of murdering a family friend and has been imprisoned in an insane asylum.As always, the author's historical detail is impeccable, from devastation of the Great Chicago Fire to the inhumane practices of the Cook County Insane Asylum to the atrocities of the prison camps on both sides of the Civil War. And they all tie together perfectly in Stephen Townsend, still suffering from a soldier's heart (PTSD), that is exacerbated by the fire.
I was glad that Meg was still able to make art after the fire, even if she couldn't manage the style that she had perfected previously. And her subject matter--juxtaposing the rich and poor, the broken and the rebuilding, and capturing the spirit of hope in the aftermath--that was beautiful to imagine. But for all the hope in her artwork, the story still felt very melancholy to me, even (maybe especially) in the end. I was particularly sad to see a number of my suspicions prove true, and what it meant for characters I had wanted better for. As a vaguely spoiler-ish warning, it's not precisely a sad ending, but I wouldn't really call it a happy ending either, not for everyone.
Thank you Bethany House and NetGalley for the complimentary e-book. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions are my own.
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