All The Pretty Places - Joy Callaway

 All the Pretty Places: A Novel of the Gilded Age - Joy Callaway

Release Date:  May 9, 2023

She read

I’ve been trying to read a bit out of my go to genres and choose this historical fiction/romance novel based on the life of the author’s great-great-grandmother.

Set during the Panic of 1893, it is the story of one of the first female business women of those times.  Sadie Fremd loves working at her family’s large nursery which services many of the Gilded Age families such as the Goulds.  Her garden designs are sought after and she hopes to someday take over the family business.  Her father has other plans for her. Fearing that his business could go bust at any time, he wants her to marry one of her wealthy suitors and be set for life.  Sadie, though, is in love with Sam, a talented employee with whom she would like to operate the nursery. 

This was a time when families lost their fortunes overnight, when the destitute were homeless or living in crowded fetid tenements. The disparity between the rich and the poor was heartbreaking, as it still is today.  Sadie is moved by their plight and the fact that public parks in those times were only for the rich.  She is determined to address that injustice.  

Beautifully descriptive and presenting a good portrait of the times, this is a sweet, almost magical story.  This was a fast read, mostly because I didn’t want to put it down. 

Thanks to #netgalley and #harpermuse for the ARC.