These Shallow Graves

by Jennifer Donnelly

Rating: 4.5/5

“If you’re going to bury the past, bury it deep, girl.

Shallow graves always give up their dead.”

This book was downright fun! I had so much fun reading it and I just couldn’t get enough. I fell in love with 1890s New York, the strong characters, and the compelling story that left me wanting more. These Shallow Graves is a brilliant historical fiction novel that is bursting with mystery, suspense, a great love story, and a whole lot of girl power.

Josephine Montfort is a 17 year old girl born into privilege. She is near the end of finishing school, awaiting a marriage proposal, and desperately searching for freedom. She wants to be a writer, like Nellie Bly, but due to her place in society it is looked down upon. While at school she finds out her father has died from an apparent suicide. Jo thinks differently and decides to try and uncover the truth behind her father’s death. She gains help from a young reporter named Eddie and a morgue assistant named Oscar. But as Jo’s investigation continues she realizes some truths are better left buried.

I am not a huge fan of historical fiction. I love books that time travel and go back to certain times but usually I find historical fiction novels to be stuffy, too fixed on factual details and settings and not enough time spent on the actual story. Jennifer Donnelly exceeded my expectations and was able to craft together a fascinating novel that took historical facts, settings, dress, and societal standards and weave them into a story that kept you trying to solve the mystery while rooting for Jo to keep her determination and willpower and overcome the restrictions society has placed on her.  It was so easy to get pulled into this story. I felt like I was actually in New York City in 1890. I was fascinated by a lot of the decisions that Jo had to make based on what was expected of her. Today those things would never happen and I was constantly appalled by some of the things expected of her. One of the biggest was the fact that she needed to be in mourning for six months after her father passed meaning she could only wear demure, black outfits and could not attend any outings or balls unless is was strictly family or approved by her uncle.  I am sorry but to me that is just outright crazy. When someone dies I think you should celebrate their life and then live your life to its fullest. I am not even going to get started on the fact that women of high society are expected to marry around the age of 18 and then start knocking out kids right away. No thank you. Grandmama Aldrich even referred to women in the book like dogs and that they are meant for breeding. WHAT?!??!?!!

Okay I feel like I went off on a tangent there. Anyway, the plot of this novel is fantastic, it draws you in and makes you want to solve the crime as much as Jo. There are so many twists and turns and we meet some great characters along the way. One of those being the young reporter looking for his story that will make him a great reporter, Eddie Gallagher. He represents the working class and provides great balance to Jo. He helps keep her in line of her standards when she starts to get a bit too excited about chasing a lead. At other times, he is right there with her chasing the story. The romance that develops between the two is very organic and real. There is no insta-love and at one point I didn’t even think a romance would develop between the two. But it makes for a great part of the story because Jo is expected to get a proposal from Bram Aldrich, one of the richest men in New York, and the slight but hardly a love triangle if you can even call it a love triangle plays a major role in the development of this story. There is a super cute kissy part between Eddie and Jo so if you have read this book then you know what I am talking about. But seriously guys I think it was one of the best first kisses ever written in a book. (Well, at least that I can remember at this time.)

Some other great characters that I loved because they were well written and surprising and just added an overall sense of perfection to this novel were Uncle Phillip Montfort, Trudy, Oscar, and Fairy Fay. I didn’t find that any characters were just placed in the book to fill a whole, every single one had a purpose.

I know a book is fantastic when I cannot get it out of my head, whether it’s the story, the setting or the time period. And this one was drowning my brain. I kept speaking in terms used from the 1890s and kept imagining what life was like back then. I live on a historic boulevard in Chicago with huge houses and mansions (I wish I lived in one) and the entire time I was reading this book I kept imagining walking down the street in a smart suited dress, sucked into a corset to make my waist 17 inches, my hand resting on the inside of my husband’s elbow as we walk to a friends for afternoon tea or even a dinner party. Although that would be fun for a day I do not think I would survive in times like this, not being able to express my opinion or feel wrong for my thirst for knowledge would drive me insane, literally, I would probably have ended up in a madhouse, like Dunning, Chicago’s historic asylum from the late 1800s or as in this novel the Darkbriar Asylum. (On a side note though I do wish to someday be able to attend a ball. A real one, in large gowns, were we pretend we are proper women from a time when proper was a thing.)

I highly recommend this book. It was absolutely fantastic. The only reason I knocked half a star off was because I did find somethings just a bit predictable. I am definitely going to pick up some more books from Jennifer Donnelly.

And here is my spin on the cover of this book with makeup…

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Until next time!