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I've just spent a few days in Chicago - the Chicago of 1893 and the World's Fair, that is - and I got there through the 630 pages of a book. So real does that city seem as depicted in William Horwood and Helen Rappaport's cracking novel, that I feel as though I really have been there.

Dark Hearts of Chicago is a great piece of story-telling. Ambitious young reporter Emily Strauss goes to Chicago to try to discover why so many young women have gone missing during the Fair, and to find out in particular what happened to Anna Zemeckis, believed dead by her father but actually clinging on to life in a terrifying asylum. Emily's chance of a job on Joseph Pulitzer's paper, the New York "World", depends upon her solving a mystery and filing a scoop on a testing deadline.

Over the course of a very tightly-plotted twelve day period,  a complex story unfolds, that of the seamy side of a city on the up as exposed by Emily and the engaging characters she meets who help her along the way. While the subject-matter is sometimes not for the fainthearted, the unsavoury underbelly of Chicago is treated decorously, not gratuitously, and though far from my usual fare of 'gentler' tales, I enjoyed it immensely.

An enormous amount of research must have gone into the writing of this story, and that could have made it stolid or top-heavy, but its authenticity is never undermined, only wonderfully supported by the wealth of historical detail. The pace is fast and the tone is bright and spirited, and it certainly made this reader want to keep on turning those many pages. I look forward to the next book in what will be a series, coming soon.

Comments

[tara]

This book sounds wonderful - someone else has blogged about it and it caught my attention. I'm not certain why it's not being published until July in the US but it is on my wish list. I wonder if there is any relation between this story and the book The Devil in the White City - a nonfiction book about the same period of time in Chicago. It is about how the fair came to be in a literal sense as well as a murder mystery happening concominantly. In any case, the subject holds a special place in my heart, as I lived in Chicago for 5 years and worked for the University of Chicago Hospitals. I drove along the Midway Plaisance every day which was the site of the fair.

[Bluestalking Reader]

So glad you loved this one as much as I did! It's very authentic as far as sense of place, not that I lived in 1893... ;-) The history is fascinating and the atmosphere perfect. It hits on a lot of important aspects of Chicago's past. Really brilliant stuff.

[Peter the flautist]

Dark Puss likes the sound of this. Great to see the book reviews back again too.

[Elaine]

This was sent to me recently for review and as I have just got back from Chicago I am looking forward to reading it. I also have Devil in the White city so I am in for a windycityfest