Received some time in the last two weeks from Better World Books. I purchased some books by Michael Redhill because I had read books by Inger Ash Wolfe, a pseudonym he uses for a mystery series.

This one certainly takes us places.

David Hollis is a gifted historian. He reads maps and considers what he knows about history and makes predictions. One of his predictions was that a sunken ship could be found in Toronto, in an area where there once was water (there has been much fill since). He makes public claims about it, but refuses to cite his sources. His work is ridiculed.

Then he gets sick. He dies without having proven his theory. His wife, Marianne, though, although not a fan of his theories while he was alive, decides to find out if maybe he was right about this one.

The book features Marianne's future son-in-law, John Lewis, in a present-day story about Marianne's quest, while a historical story about Toronto, featuring a pharmacist, is interwoven through the book. At the end the two come together to make sense of the method.

The 1850s story takes us from a small pharmacy to the world of early photography. I learned more about the dangers of developing and printing than I had known previously. Like most people, I was familiar with the limitations of taking photographs with these monstrous cameras. The story features the druggist, J. Hallam, a woman down on her luck, and a struggling photographer.

The two stories kept me interested. I was a bit distressed by what I saw happening in the 1850s world, but was glad I continued. The ending is a bit of a surprise.

Sent to a paperbackswap member.