This follows Nell Lillington after she falls pregnant at the age of 17 and refuses to disclose the father to her mother and stepfather to avoid the dreaded idea of matrimony.
In the beginning, I felt for Nell and totally understood why she didn't want to marry the father. She did come across as very naive, even for a woman in 1870s America. 'I'm a moderately wealthy woman who can sew so I don't need anybody to protect my future.' Martin had the right idea telling her that she was naive thinking that she could just stroll into Chicago with an infant and a bag of change and instantly thrive.
I loved the part of the novel where Nell is at the Poor Farm. I particularly liked Tess. I loved her personality and her fieriness and it wasn't until reading the postscript authors note that I realised she had Down's Syndrome. It didn't even occur to me. I did like the author's postscript note explaining references through history to Down's Syndrome though. I also liked Mrs Lombardi and the way she cared for the people at the Poor Farm. I thought Blackie showed well as an embodiment of human nature; 'I'll help you, but only if it benefits me' is a common occurrence through history and human nature.
I didn't like how how the other unwed mothers were stereotyped as aggressive prostitutes. Their anger towards Nell is understandable; purely by the circumstance of money are their differences and Nell kind of flaunts that in their faces during her time at the Poor Farm. Also, Lizzie's (the leader of the unwed mothers) storyline is resolved in one line not long after her arguments with Nell. Why would you build up this character just to remove her from the novel with barely any mention?
The murder plot at the Poor Farm was rather stilted. The entire thing was short and choppy and from the first clue it was easy to figure out who had done it. You were just sat waiting for Nell to catch up with you. It was also resolved halfway through the book and actually only received a short amount of attention from the book, despite being one of the major selling points on the book blurb. The entire second half of the book, Nell is back at home with her mother, stepfather and child as she and Martin attempt to bring justice for Jo and Benjamin. Maybe I was being oblivious or something, but why did Nell feel compelled to figure out Jo's murder? The baby hormones that instantly made her want to keep her baby also made her want to solve this other mother's murder? I just don't think that life works that way.
Martin. We have to talk about Martin. It is made pretty obvious that Martin is gay (without ever saying it, considering that it's 1870s America) and Nell has yet to realise this (I'm weighing up whether the rest of the series would answer this question). That being said, I am completely jealous of Martin's ability to colour coordinate because I am absolutely terrible at it and he's the best in the book. Possibly also my most favourite character in the book. He sacrificed his chance to fight in the Army in order to help his ailing mother and sort out his alcoholic father and helps Nell no matter what throughout the novel. Martin is awesome, and is literally the man you want as your best friend (if you're Nell). Though I totally believe that it would have suited both of them had they married at the end. Martin's reputation would have improved and Nell would no longer be seen as a harlot. But they didn't and the conclusion is left very open-ended.
Characterisation was slightly flawed in this novel. As I said previously, Tess was amazing and so was Martin, but conversations didn't tend to flow. They felt very stilted and very robotic. There wasn't much feeling behind the words. Martin and Nell are childhood friends but they didn't have natural sounding conversations. You could have transplanted their conversation onto two unconnected people and it would have read the same.
That being said, I did enjoy this novel. I haven't read many historical fiction (mainly because historical inaccuracies seriously annoy me) but I liked it. It was worth a read, despite all the complaints.
Rating = 3* / 5*
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