Summer of 1876: San Francisco is in the fierce grip of a record-breaking heat wave and a smallpox epidemic. Through the window of a railroad saloon, a young woman named Jenny Bonnet is shot dead.

The survivor, her friend Blanche Beunon, is a French burlesque dancer. Over the next three days, she will risk everything to bring Jenny's murderer to justice--if he doesn't track her down first. The story Blanche struggles to piece together is one of free-love bohemians, desperate paupers, and arrogant millionaires; of jealous men, icy women, and damaged children. It's the secret life of Jenny herself, a notorious character who breaks the law every morning by getting dressed: a charmer as slippery as the frogs she hunts.

In thrilling, cinematic style, FROG MUSIC digs up a long-forgotten, never-solved crime. Full of songs that migrated across the world, Emma Donoghue's lyrical tale of love and bloodshed among lowlifes captures the pulse of a boomtown like no other.

There are so many things going on in this book. I really appreciated the amount of work put into it, be it documenting historical events and characters, puzzling and guesswork, subtle notes of feminism and emancipation, the thorny road from nuisance to motherly love. There are some juicy bits, but unexpectedly innocent at times, guilt-free and with the proper agency. The characters are alive, well individualized and with so much to bring to the table. It is with longing and tender nostalgia that I finished this book.

As with so many bookcrossing books, not having left my hands yet, this book has a lot of baggage already :)

I bought it as a wishlist surprise for azuki and brought it to Mainz in 2019 - but I was still halfway and couldn't let it go, so I took it back home to finish and mail it later.

By the time I finished it, it turns out she had already found a copy, so I was saving it for the Gold Coast as a wishlist surprise for somebody else.

Then the pandemic laughed at my plans.

Then baby lemon made sure my extra time went to sleep by her side (or watched her sleep).

Half a stash of books later, this goes to ApoloniaX via the International Zoom Uncon virtual buffet.

Safe travels and enjoy!

Thank you!!!
I look forward to reading it.

I find it hard to say whether I really liked this book. I finished it, and didn't take long, so that's on the plus-side. But sometimes it was getting on my nerves - or rather: Blanche was getting on my nerves, and her infatuation with a guy who only used her. Yes, she's waking up, but the road to self-realization took too much time for my taste. What was interesting (and harrowing) was all the background, the xenophobia towards newer immigrants, especially Chinese, the misogyny, the smallpox epidemic, and in general the descriptions of everyday life.

Wishlist book for you.
Happy reading!

Book arrived today. thanks for the wishlist book, ApoloniaX! I look forward to reading it soon(ish)

Had some difficulty to get into the book, but then was captivated. although I am not sure if I understand the end

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