reviewsbyerin

The 1893 World's Fair comes to life in this immersive novel from Jocelyn Green. We first met the Townsend sisters in Veiled in Smoke, when they suffered through the Great Chicago Fire. Twenty-two years later, the city and the sisters have recovered, and the world has come to their door.

Meg is married with a family, but Sylvie has never found romance. She has, however, raised a Polish orphan named Rose who is now a headstrong 17-year-old. Rose takes violin lessons from their upstairs neighbor Kristof, who is a concertmaster with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Sylvie keeps busy running the family bookstore and giving tours at the Fair.

Rose has never stopped searching for her roots, and when she goes missing, Sylvie doesn't know if she's following a lead or has been taken in a sinister plot. Meanwhile, Kristof faces hard decisions about his derelict but talented brother, and continues to gently woo Sylvie, carrying deep feelings for a woman who may never return them.

Jocelyn Green's sterling research is on display here in these pages. She has more detail than one might notice if they truly were at the Columbian Exposition! It's amazing how much she was able to include about the time period and various cultures represented at the Fair.

Kristof was my favorite character. He made an absolutely dashing hero. I rooted for Sylvie to awaken to his love and choose him in return, though I understand why her focus needed to be on Rose. Due to all the circumstances surrounding the 1893 World's Fair, I wasn't sure what the outcome would be when she went missing. The twists and turns kept surprising me.

I would recommend this book for fans of historical fiction, or anyone wanting to know more about the Columbian Exposition.

I received my copy of the book from the publisher. All thoughts in this review are my own.