I am so glad that Donoghue has returned to historical fiction, in this her latest offering. Based on the unsolved murder, in San Francisco during the latter part of the 1800's; the murder being that of Jenny Bonnet, a cross dressing, frog catcher with a mysterious past. She and Blanche become friends after Jenny runs into her with her while riding her high wheeler. Blanche, who had come from France with her two, well one was her lover and the other his friend, has become a dancer and prostitute

"Care to receive a bullet through your brains" ,Jenny quipped to St.Clair, "or have you got plans for this evening?" First things first.I feel the need to say from the start that I loved this book.I am an avid reader of everything that is raw and gritty and realistic,especially when it comes to Historical Fiction.However, I know that this novel isn't for everyone.If one is offended by the issue of prostitution,of abuse and if (very few) graphic sex scenes may disturb you, then this isn't a su

This novel is controversial. The triggers here are graphic sex involving different groupings, and also child abuse – specifically in “baby farms” where the parents of little ones sent their babies at a cost due to various personal circumstances. The place is San Francisco, the year is 1876 and the story moves back and forth between the months of August and September, the latter being the month that Jenny Bonnet was murdered. While this book is fiction, it is based on the lives of people involved...

This book is a mess. I find this extra disappointing because this was one of the novels I had been looking forward to reading this summer. I had been so impressed with Donoghue's earlier book, "Room," that I wanted to read more of her work.Now, I want to read less of it."Frog Music" is an attempt at historical fiction and true crime. It's set in San Francisco in the summer of 1876, and it's based on the true story of an unsolved murder. Someone killed Jenny Bonnet in a boardinghouse, and in the

This book croaked!The narrative and characters were dead, dead, dead.Should I just check the thesaurus for synonyms for "tedious" because I might overuse the word in my review? (Actually I am afraid that if I looked up "tedious" I would probably see "Frog Music"!!)If only I had checked and seen the rather long appendix. It made far more interesting reading that the drivel presented as fictionalised history ... but sadly by then I had more than lost interested in it all. If only women dressing as...

*Explanation of Review to follow.*When I finished this book, I was all like: I mean - did that SERIOUSLY just happen?That's a girl on the Penny-Farthing bike that's about to crash into you, even though you thought it was a dude at first glance. She was just minding her own business - off to catch some of these guys:She be like: YOU GUYS WOULD BE MIGHTY TASTY!!!!!! At that point, I found myself again saying this:Half the time though, I was like: why all the old-timey songs?Then I put two and two

I really struggled with this one. The characters were unpleasant, the subject matter was frequently disgusting and the story bounced around all over the place. Plus it was written in the present tense which I always dislike. To be absolutely honest I cannot find a redeeming feature for the whole book. Sorry everyone who liked it! It just was not for me.

I actually finished this last night but I'm torn between writing a coherent review or just quietly sulking in a corner about how much I loved this book.ETA: Phil asked for demanded a review so I'll give it my best shot:I wasn't planning on enjoying this book so much. I wasn't even planning on reading it until BJ rang me right before she was supposed to relieve me for lunch and said "Did you want to read the new Emma Donoghue book?" I only vaguely remembered that she even had a new book coming ou...

Emma Donoghue has broken out of her “Room.” Four years after that bestselling story of a mother and child imprisoned in a garden shed, she’s back with a novel ravenous for space, for people, for sounds — for all the life that 5-year-old Jack never had. The millions of readers who know Donoghue only from the harrowing tale of that little boy will discover in “Frog Music” just how expansive and boisterous this Irish Canadian author can be.“Frog Music” — her first historical novel set in America —

The story is dark, which is usually fine with me, but it's also nasty and full of unlikable characters making stupid and cruel decisions. The narrator of the audio version uses a French accent that is annoying, but even if the book had been read perfectly, I don't think I would have finished this one.The only character I enjoyed at all is dead.I'll finish mildly entertaining books, and even enjoy some books that are not great, but life's too short to spend reading a book I hate. I made it about

Frog Music is absolutely remarkable, well researched and thought-out novel where the reader is transported back in time to a colourful, wild bohemian lifestyle of San Francisco in 1876; during an unforgiving heat wave and the outbreak of smallpox, racial prejudice and riots against the influx of Chinese immigrant, and the damaged infants at these ‘baby farms’. And while this is all taking place, Donoghue tells us of a crime that has been committed, based on actual events.Donoghue gives us an ins...

Sleaze and sordidness behind the glitz and glamour of showbiz provides a decadent backdrop for this sexy historical whodunnit. Set amid the gaudy world of burlesque, gambling and prostitution in San Francisco's Chinatown during a heatwave and smallpox epidemic in the late 1870's, this is a story of lust, betrayal, murder and redemption that will keep the reader hooked from the very first page till the end.Former circus performer Blanche Beunon is an exotic dancer who lures the crowds at the Hous...

I found that this story had not much to do with the premise of the outline. Sure, there's a murder but it's not what this book is about. It's about Blanche; just Blanche. No matter what happened in the storyline, it became about how it affected Blanche. I find Blanche a self-pitying, obnoxious, self-centered woman. I don't have to like the characters in a book, so this didn't play into my rating. But it got eye-rollingly annoying how much Blanche thought only of herself and how all the events ar...

A fascinating character study, murder mystery, and atmospheric historical fiction set in 1870s San Francisco. I appreciated how the main character Blanche is made to be neither necessarily 'likeable' nor 'good'; she's an ambivalent but loving mother, a sex worker, a woman who likes to have lots of sex, and sarcastic. The crux of the plot is the unsolved murder of her cross-dressing frog-catching friend Jenny. Fabulous audiobook performance! Something about this only feels like three stars, thoug...