A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner
“Everything beautiful has a story it wants to tell. But not every story is beautiful.”
In this case the beautiful item was a scarf, an Indienne textile, French-made from an Indian design, and well over a hundred years old. Copper colored, with the repeating pattern of marigolds cascading throughout. The stories it had to tell were not beautiful. Or maybe time and patience were needed to discover their beauty.
A Fall of Marigolds tells the story of two young women living their lives in limbo after surviving life altering traumatic events in New York City. The scarf plays major roles for each – sending both off in directions that will alter the course of their lives, and eventually bringing them back full circle.
I really enjoyed this book, although at moments it’s a bit hard to read. It is beautifully written with characters I immediately became invested in – which is typical for author Susan Meissner’s writing. Her touch for historical fiction – thorough research combined with excellent world and character building – added to her skilled story telling make her novels among my all time favorites.
Highly recommend for anyone who enjoys historical fiction, has an interest in Ellis Island, the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, the 9/11 Twin Towers collapse, or just wants to get lost in a well written book.
CindyLovesBooks.com 