This is a sad novel, about two sisters who, in childhood, stumbled upon a family secret, then, decades later, one sets out to uncover the facts surrounding it. The book is written in two timelines (the 1930s and 1970s), and it’s not immediately obvious how they will come together. It’s also about found family, knowing to who trust, and underlying current of observation about social inequality, especially for women on their own during both time periods.
I know it’s set in a completely different time and place, but I kept thinking about Les Miserables while reading the earlier story, where being a single mother (for whatever reason) left women vulnerable, needing to keep secrets, lie to potential employers, and some had to earn money in ways considered morally wrong, a path they wouldn’t have chosen had they had other options. There’s a feeling of distrust for and subservience to everyone, lest your secret be known and acted upon. In that context, it’s extraordinary that some people managed to build community, and to discern potential friend from foe.
On that note, I enjoyed digging through the various layers in this novel. There’s the story, and the characters, but also the intersectionality of gender and social class – one woman, in particular, due to wealth and status, has an extraordinary amount of power and influence, while the poor women are sometimes compelled to compete with one another or are the mercy of those willing to bend rules for them (and which is right – following the rules or helping to make sure a woman can feed her children and herself?).
There’s one character who is creative and interesting, who has the unusual ability to see colors around people and places (synesthesia?). I wish this phenomenon would have been better utilized and explained throughout the story. Also, a couple of the characters are not well developed at all, the villain in particular. She seems to be very one-note – it’s hard to really grasp her motivation other than maybe just “to win.”
Without spoilers, I will say that, while I enjoyed this book, it left me feeling very sad. There are so many things I wish had gone differently, and they could have gone differently if the people involved would have had access to even a fraction of the technology we have today. Some terrible, tragic, mistakes were made, but really, the people involved were doing the best thing they could think to do given the resources they had available to them. We take so much for granted, living in this time with all of our advantages – this story really brought that home for me.