Where the Light Enters: A Novel by Sara Donati

Where the Light Enters: A Novel. Sara Donati. Penguin Publishing Group.  September 2019. hb, 672 pp.; ISBN: 9780425271827.

Dr. Sophie Savard and Dr. Anna Savard, Sophie’s cousin and best friend, want to start a medical school and hospital for disadvantaged women in the 1800s.  Both doctors are women of color and have had their past experiences of prejudice and suspicion.  Now, Dr. Sophie’s husband has died of tuberculosis in Europe and she has returned to New York.  She’s had plenty of condolences and her own memories in grief to now process.  But activities in the city quickly garner her interest and involvement. 

A number of deaths have occurred to women who were pregnant, went to a criminal doctor who punished them with surgery, infection and eventual death.  But now that doctor is gone and there are still problems.  The wife of a reputable banker has disappeared and another woman is found dead by very suspicious wounds which lead the investigators to believe the same type of murder has again occurred.  Dr. Anna’s husband, Detective-Sergeant Jack Mezzanotte, asks the cousins to consult on the investigation.  They agree to consult and gradually the story unfolds to show who the captors or kidnappers are and who has once again murdered.

This is a tough and tender story that will grip every reader who is interested in both medicine and crime.  The main characters are financially well-settled but still have enormous compassion for women who seek criminal doctors hoping to end pregnancies or illness.  Women who are mistreated have multiple reasons to seek illicit treatment and the Savard doctors believe education and compassion will change the horrific nature of these losses.  This is a timely subject as the nation is coping with the possibility of abortions becoming illegal as it was fifty years ago and earlier.  It is not too hard to realize that these dark days could become reality again and that there are even now numerous women, both health care professionals and regular women, who seriously are concerned about this issue.  Dr. Anna and her husband Jack, as well as Dr. Sophie stand for the protection of women’s rights.  This would be an excellent novel to use in a book club or to share in other contemporary issue discussions.

The topic is obviously well-research and is presented with all sides of the issues covered.  Sara Donati is a highly-skilled, creative and talented writer.  This, her latest novel, is highly recommended historical fiction!!! Enjoy the read!

The Vanished Bride by Bella Ellis

The Vanished Bride.  Bella Ellis. Penguin Publishing Group.  September 2019; pb, 304 pp.; ISBN #: 9780593099056.

In between writing poetry, novels and stories, Charlotte, Emily and Ann Bronte are looking into a criminal matter.  They call themselves “detectors.” That means there’s no official police designation and no spy attachment.  The nicest part of this novel is that these are talented but ordinary sisters who have talents with weaknesses.  They quarrel with and pick on each other as sisters do but there is a deep abiding and protective love that is rock solid no matter what happens.  They grow up in a time when a woman is a possession and really has absolutely no rights of her own.  However, they are raised by a liberal pastoral father who teaches them otherwise and respects the decisions they make.  So when a friend of theirs, Maddie, tells of a horrible occasion where her mistress has gone missing and all that is left behind is a gross amount of blood all over her bedroom.  Maddie implies that the behavior of Mr. Chester is cruel beyond reason and comes close to being criminal.  So the three sisters decide to become sleuths and tell their father nothing of plans.

Bram, the sisters’ brother, is an enigma of a character in this story.  He helps them during the day and seems strongly supportive.  But his nights are full of drinking himself into oblivion and he seems aimless in life because of a lost love.  However, he does come through in all the right places where woman must be accompanied by a male.  All the characters who loved Mrs. Chester are warm and have nothing but good things to say about her.  So they also will do what they can to find this missing woman.

The solution to the mystery comes after numerous clues are provided with many different interpretations as to meaning and how they fit with the obvious plan. Mr. Chester has a hyperactive brain that imagines wrongs that lead him to jealous and cruel treatment of his brides and everyone else in the house.  Others try to protect the victims from Mr. Chester’s outrageous attacks.

However, the right people will be discovered and the criminal will pay for wrongs committed.  Overall, readers will be pleased with the detective-like activities of these three sisters who vow to do no wrong and always work on the right side of the law.  They are very good “detectors” and the reader hopes they will have other efforts published on their mystery talent skills.  Nicely done, Bella Ellis!