The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner

May 1, 2023

The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner

Sophie Whalen, an Irish immigrant living in New York, answers a newspaper advertisement for a mail order bride, then travels to San Francisco to meet the man she has agreed to marry. Martin Hocking is a handsome widower with a small child who needs a mother since he travels for business. Sophie has always wanted a child and is so happy with little Kat that she accepts her strange marriage and strange husband. But a year after their marriage, a pregnant woman shows up at Sophie's door, claiming that Martin is her husband as well, but under a different name. But Martin isn't the only one living a lie - Sophie also has secrets that she fears will destroy her carefully constructed life if they were to become known.

Well-researched historical novel set against the backdrop of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. There is wonderful detail about how the upper middle class lived in the early 20th century. Although the sociopath husband is the story's catalyst, it is predominantly about the women that he has used so carelessly, who band together and pick up their lives and go on. Most of the stories threads are wound in at the end, but it is never really clear why Martin wanted a mail order bride from the east coast or why he married Sophie - at least one character notes that he could have hired a nanny and a housekeeper. Will appeal to readers of Kate Morton and Diane Chamberlain.