31 Bond Street by Ellen Horan
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Books come into your life much like friends, sometimes they just seem to arrive at the right time. 31 Bond Street
Dr. Harvey Burdell was a successful dentist with a penchant for engaging in shady business deals on the side. Thrown into the mix is Emma Cunningham, a widower with 2 children that occupied the upper floors of the townhouse in exchange for running the household and staff. Emma is cast at the murderess that was after Dr. Burdell’s fortune. What follows is nothing short of a scary legal process that had me clenching my gut for 2 days.
The coroner puts the entire household under house arrest with no access to legal representatives while he carries out a coroner’s jury proceeding. The jury is chosen from men around the city that are charged with listening to testimony given by household servants, neighbors, and anyone else the coroner could dig up to testify against Ms. Cunningham. To add to that legal nightmare, reporters from every newspaper in NYC are present as they record and release the daily transcripts for the entire city to read the next day.
As the story unfolds we are taken back through history as NYC settled around land that still held Indian tribes and African Americans that were escaping slavery in the South. It was interesting for me to try to imagine an NYC that considered 16th Street to be uptown, with nothing but farmlands as far as the eye could see, and NJ was nothing but a swampland. It was more difficult than I would have imagined, but I loved reading about John, a young boy, and other characters just hopping in a canoe that they left on the bank of the Hudson. Such a different mental picture than the NYC of today, so of course I had to look up actual photos. Moran does an excellent job recreating a city that was once filled with horse drawn carriages, women in hoop skirts, and racial/sexual tensions that are coming to a head.
I love stories that are created from true events, but I’m always left wondering which parts are true and which parts were created for the story by the author. I love that Moran included information at the end of the novel stating which characters were real and what actually happened to their lives during and after the trial. If you are one of those people that reads the ending before starting a book, I urge you to read the book first before flipping to the last pages!
If you love historical novels and mysteries with many turns, definitely pick up 31 Bond Street. Once you’ve read it make sure you enter the contest to win a box of Bond Street Chocolates plus a signed 1st edition of 31 Bond Street by choosing who you think should be cast in the 31 Bond Street movie.
Novel Whore Rating: 4 Notches on the Bed Post
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* I received a review copy of 31 Bond Street from the publisher as part of the TLC Book Tour, go read more reviews!
