A FALL OF MARIGOLDS

1911

Clara Wood worked as a nurse in a doctor's office in a building that housed the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory on the top floors.  She has a flirtation with a bookkeeper who works at Triangle.  After the fire happens, she doesn't want to return to the building.  She gets a job on Ellis Island.  She nurses the potential immigrants who are too sick to be admitted to New York.When a man comes in whose wife died on route, Clara is drawn to him because of his grief. When she finds evidence that things weren't as her patient thougt in his marriage, she agonizes over what to do with this info while also working through how to move on in her own life.



2011

Taryn Michaels was on her way to meet her husband at the World Trade Center when the planes hit. Now just before the 10 year anniversary, a picture has surfaced of Taryn and a man on the street just as the first tower fell. Reminders of that day make her realize that she is still carrying a lot of guilt about her role in inviting her husband to go to the Windows on the World restaurant at the top of the Tower that day.Clara and Taryn are linked by a scarf that Clara's patient's wife owned that eventually being worn by Taryn when her picture was taken on 9/11.The story is told alternating between Clara and Taryn. I found Clara's story to be more interesting. I had read about the Triangle Shirtwaist fire but didn't realize that it was in a multistory building with other businesses underneath that were unaffected.

I also didn't know much about the treatment of sick immigrants in the hospital at Ellis Island.

This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story

I'm a sucker for stories that toggle between two time periods. In this case, it's a nurse who witnessed the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in 1911 who is now caring for diseased immigrants on Ellis Island, and a NY fabric specialist who saw the Twin Towers collapse in 2001. The book was well constructed within that framework, and I enjoyed it. I deducted two stars, however, because it felt a bit like a cover to discreetly evangelize about "God's Will." Perhaps if I were religious, I would've given it 5 stars because it would've resonated. Instead, it felt a bit like Ayn Rand trying to hock capitalism by way of fiction, and I hate feeling manipulated. (Though to be fair, I since learned that it's published by a Christian label, so maybe if I'd headed into it knowing that, I would've been less judge-y in my review.) Still, it felt a bit saccharine.