Publishers Weekly
This brisk romantic mystery, set in post-WWI London, begins with a situation worthy of E.M. Forster as Evelyn Gifford and her family receive a visit from a nurse and a young boy who claim to be the wartime lover and child of Evelyn's late brother. Evelyn has little time to ponder the implications: a lawyer in training, she is pressed into service when her firm takes the case of a war veteran accused of murdering his wife and burying her body in the woods (along with all incriminating evidence). Evelyn believes in the man's innocence and tries to unearth new evidence that will exonerate him, but complicating her investigation are Nicholas Thorne, a handsome but engaged attorney whom Evelyn falls for, and the nurse, Meredith, who, having moved in with the Gifford family, begins to force Evelyn out of her settled existence. Despite these distractions, Evelyn doggedly follows a trail of clues leading back to a wartime coverup. In this determinedly old-fashioned novel of tangled mystery and morality, Evelyn makes for a smart and resolutely modest heroine. (Feb.)
Library Journal
The Great War is over, but the Gifford women still live in isolated grief. The daughter of the house, Evelyn supports the family by clerking in a lawyer's office at a time when women weren't lawyers. Evelyn is thrown when a woman and child show up on her doorstep. The child is unmistakably the son of her brother James, killed in the war. Meredith, the mother, was James's nurse in a field hospital. Interwoven with this story line is Evelyn's increasingly difficult professional life, which includes fighting to get an impoverished woman's children returned to her and helping defend a man on trial for murder who won't defend himself. Caught between the old guard of English society and the new world of art and jazz, Evelyn teeters on the brink of something very interesting, indeed. VERDICT McMahon's historical novels (The Alchemist's Daughter; The Rose of Sebastopol) are often complex but extremely rewarding in their depth and character development. Her latest is her best novel to date. Strongly recommended for readers who enjoy Sarah Waters, Geraldine Brooks, and Jacqueline Winspear.—Anna M. Karras, Collier Cty. P.L., Naples, FL
Kirkus Reviews
Another inventive, nuanced historical novel from McMahon (The Rose of Sebastopol, 2009, etc.), again focused on a progressive female protagonist constrained by the expectations of her era. Evelyn Gifford, 30 and one of England's first female lawyers, must not only struggle against mockery and prejudice at work but also grapple with her grief over the loss of her beloved brother James; she's still bereft six-and-a-half years after he was killed in World War I. Evelyn's cash-strapped London household, which includes her widowed mother, aunt and elderly grandmother, is further burdened by the arrival of Meredith and Edmund Duffy, James' hitherto unknown lover and illegitimate child. McMahon captures the conflicts of class and impoverishment, work and privilege in telling detail through Evelyn's professional dilemmas, which take her to slums, prisons, orphanages and society drawing rooms. At home, Meredith undermines James' memory with her shocking recollections, but Evelyn is drawn to Edmund as the son she believes she will never have, since almost an entire generation of men has been lost to the war. Enter barrister Nicholas Thorne-"beautiful, intact, youngish . . . therefore a rarity"-who approaches Evelyn because she's involved in the trial of an ex-soldier (employed by one of Thorne's clients) accused of killing his wife. Quickly, Evelyn finds herself obsessed with the barrister; though engaged to another, he personifies all her yearnings for sexual and emotional fulfillment. But larger, darker, more complex forces may deny Evelyn easy solutions or happy endings, although they may not obstruct a resolute woman from moving forward. A fine, compassionate, elegiac combination of human andcourtroom drama-the author's best yet.
Publishers Weekly
Set in 1920s London, McMahon's suspenseful story weaves together three seemingly unrelated threads in the life of trailblazing female attorney Evelyn Gifford, as sordid secrets among the city's most influential and respected families come to light. Josephine Bailey does an especially masterful job contrasting the carefree North American speech patterns and boldness of a mysterious Canadian visitor named Meredith with the repressed manner of Evelyn and her relatives. Bailey also nicely captures the indignant determination of young mother Leah Marchant, one of Gifford's down-and-out clients. As the story progresses, keeping track of the characters --particularly the male figures involved in the climactic courtroom showdown--may require some effort, but attentive listeners should find the overall experience both engaging and entertaining. A Putnam hardcover (Reviews, Nov. 2). (Apr.)
From the Publisher
"McMahon's historical novels are often complex but extremely rewarding in their depth and character development. Her latest is her best novel to date." —-Library Journal Starred Review
