The author of this book is a gifted writer; Dr. Cain D'Alessandro starts the story as a continual drunk. How he changes is slow enough to be realistic. If there is one word to describe this book, it is realistic. Sometimes, authors write about bleak subjects with rose-tinted glasses. Megan Chance is accurate in her descriptions and shows the attitudes of the time.
Ana, 'The Duchess,' is a prostitute and looking for a quick way out of town. She may have killed one of her customers and she knows that the madam of the bordello will not sit on her hands while Ana escapes.
D'Alessandro is recommended as a protector (in the guise of being Ana's husband), to accompany her on the long ship voyage from New York to Panama and then via a horrible overland journey through 20 miles of jungle. Finally, the travelers will board a ship to travel up the California coast to San Francisco.
D'Alessandro and Ana are deeply flawed people in great pain. As soon as Ana boards the ship, she ignores Cain as much as possible. When she looks at Cain at all, he sees contempt. The reader quickly understands that neither person feels able to talk about the grief they carry.
This is a very different kind of book; I hesitate to say much more about the complex plot. My only disappointment was the uneven pacing; things dragged a bit at times. This book isn't always easy to read because of the subject matter and the conditions of life and travel at the time. At the end, the reader will feel greater insight into the human condition. An amazing book; 4.5 stars
Ana, 'The Duchess,' is a prostitute and looking for a quick way out of town. She may have killed one of her customers and she knows that the madam of the bordello will not sit on her hands while Ana escapes.
D'Alessandro is recommended as a protector (in the guise of being Ana's husband), to accompany her on the long ship voyage from New York to Panama and then via a horrible overland journey through 20 miles of jungle. Finally, the travelers will board a ship to travel up the California coast to San Francisco.
D'Alessandro and Ana are deeply flawed people in great pain. As soon as Ana boards the ship, she ignores Cain as much as possible. When she looks at Cain at all, he sees contempt. The reader quickly understands that neither person feels able to talk about the grief they carry.
This is a very different kind of book; I hesitate to say much more about the complex plot. My only disappointment was the uneven pacing; things dragged a bit at times. This book isn't always easy to read because of the subject matter and the conditions of life and travel at the time. At the end, the reader will feel greater insight into the human condition. An amazing book; 4.5 stars
