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The Nature of Fragile Things

Written by: Susan Meissner
Narrated by: Alana Kerr Collins, Jason Culp
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Publisher's Summary

April 18, 1906: A massive earthquake rocks San Francisco just before daybreak, igniting a devouring inferno. Lives are lost, lives are shattered, but some rise from the ashes forever changed.

Sophie Whalen is a young Irish immigrant so desperate to get out of a New York tenement that she answers a mail-order bride ad and agrees to marry a man she knows nothing about. San Francisco widower Martin Hocking proves to be as aloof as he is mesmerizingly handsome. Sophie quickly develops deep affection for Kat, Martin's silent five-year-old daughter, but Martin's odd behavior leaves her with the uneasy feeling that something about her newfound situation isn't right.

Then one early-spring evening, a stranger at the door sets in motion a transforming chain of events. Sophie discovers hidden ties to two other women. The first, pretty and pregnant, is standing on her doorstep. The second is hundreds of miles away in the American Southwest, grieving the loss of everything she once loved.

The fates of these three women intertwine on the eve of the devastating earthquake, thrusting them onto a perilous journey that will test their resiliency and resolve and, ultimately, their belief that love can overcome fear.

From the acclaimed author of The Last Year of the War and As Bright as Heaven comes a gripping novel about the bonds of friendship and mother love, and the power of female solidarity.

Praise for The Nature of Fragile Things

“A mysterious web of lies, love, and loss that accelerates toward the inevitable: the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906." (Kristin Harmel, author of The Book of Lost Names)

“A riveting tale set in 1906 San Francisco. These fascinating characters' hidden pasts and dark secrets collide, entwine, and explode - and that's before the earthquake hits." (Greer Macallister, author of The Magician's Lie and The Arctic Fury)

“In the ashes of San Francisco's greatest tragedy, one remarkable woman finds love, friendship, and the means to rebuild. Historical fiction that reads with the urgency and suspense of a thriller.” (Lauren Willig, New York Times best-selling author of The Summer Country)

“Driven by the unstoppable force of the three intriguing women at its heart, this is a novel to savor, and one to share with all the women in your life whom you admire." (Hazel Gaynor, New York Times best-selling author of When We Were Young & Brave)

©2021 Susan Meissner (P)2021 Penguin Audio
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What the critics say

“Meissner spins an exceptional story.... Unexpected and masterfully crafted twists and turns abound.... Ingeniously plotted and perfectly structured, this captivates from beginning to end.” (Publisher's Weekly, starred review)

“A terrific tale that takes us on a harrowing cable-car ride through early 20th-century San Francisco, where dark secrets - like the city itself - crack wide open, forcing our world-weary heroine to confront the devastation done by the lies she's been told and by the lies she's still telling.” (Stephanie Dray, author of America’s First Daughter and The Women of Chateau Lafayette)

“A brilliant story of resilience and the power of female friendship." (Marie Benedict, New York Times best-selling author of The Mystery of Mrs. Christie)

What listeners say about The Nature of Fragile Things

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great book

Beautiful story about a woman’s struggles and accomplishments in a new country. She showed the determination and grit of a survivor.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A perfect blend of history, family, love & mystery

I am not eloquent enough to write a review of this amazing book. I can only say that it is in my top 10 books of all time. The narrator is perfectly chosen. I am almost ready to begin listening to the story all over again.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Truly a ghost story....

Biggest thing that set this book apart for me was the pace. Slowness bugs me but if it’s a character into it self. Got that? Like your sitting around the campfire. Told first hand, the book stays in character by this eluding pace set around Sophie, this women’s history, will take her farther then her origin thus through us to more secrets we must figure out. At first you think it’s going to be a love story, ha, ha, ha. So if you looking for romance, there’s none. But if you need that big black monster that eludes us, as it does for Sophie, now. You got to know, have to find out what happens next, right. She’s so brave, so we too must tag along, just to see what outstanding turn of events will turn me upside down. I tell you I thus was committed; I had to know all. It get there, then everything goes a hard right then left and so twisty and is so enjoyable. The mystery. I got you. You got me. Just wait for it.

The pace aside, I’ve never read a book where these, 3 women, and 2 female small children become each other’s saving grace? I’ve never come across such devotion without being sentimental. It’s part of the curiosity, the pace while waiting for them to turn on each, but instead survival, fear, secrets, unforeseen events, earthquakes take places which is a huge part ( great history knowledge), but they become “Sarah’s circle.” it’s mind boggling that it wasn’t lowered by cliché about women in general, expecting that a bunch catty women where going to cut throat each other, but no, it’s like each person of consequence holds virtues that balance the magic in the book. But, remember it’s just a ghost story waiting for that big black monster to come back and get me/you.....I had to know what was going happen next.......satisfying, to say the to the least. Flow with it, it’s real friction and fiction.

The narration is brilliant, for this had to be highly product and directed to keep on the straight and narrow, very few foreshadowing, I have to add,, so you can just imagine the surprises. Best ghost story I sat through for a long time, minimal sex, clean and clever. It was fun.

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Great Story

The story grabbed my attention from the beginning and never let go.
A great story about three women bond over a common deception. They support each other while ensuring a special little girl receives the love she deserves and that a special justice is served.

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

I was pulled in right from the beginning until the end. Good story, well-written, good narration.

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Justice was served with this beautiful sisterhood story!

I absolutely loved this story! Would read it again. The characters had my attention, and I fell in love with Sophie and Kat and the other ladies.
I cried many times at the hardships that fell on Sophie. Loved the ending!!

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