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FOR THE LOVE OF MIKE
by Rhys Bowen
St. Martin's Minotaur, December 2003
320 pages
$23.95
ISBN: 0312313004


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

At the turn of the twentieth century immigrants were flooding into the United States. Most had little money and few prospect for jobs, although they were certainly willing to work hard. For a woman in New York City some of the only jobs available were in the garment industry. Work conditions were terrible, the pay was low, and women were fined for such petty things as standing and stretching. But the owners had all the power.

In her quest to become a private investigator, Molly Murphy gets embroiled in this whole situation. She is hired by the owner of one of the sweatshops to find out who is stealing his original designs and selling them to his competitor. She must actually go to work as a seamstress in order to spy and observe. Finding it extremely difficult to keep her mouth shut about the horrible conditions and the injustices to the women, she gets herself into trouble.

She is also searching for a young woman who had run away from her home in Ireland. Her parents hired Molly to find her so they can bring her home. Molly discovers how inconvenient and ultimately how dangerous it is to be a single woman in New York City. Out alone at night, she learns that the police assume she is either a prostitute or the girlfriend of one of the gang members.

Mollyıs voice is a marvelous one to tell us her story. She is brave, impulsive, with the temper to match her red hair. She gets into dangerous situations because she is so determined to be something other than a nameless powerless immigrant woman. She shows us her world which is as vibrant and fascinating as we can imagine and she also shows us the degradation and poverty of those upon whose backs the industrial revolution is being built.

The history and the setting of this book (like the first two in the series) is outstanding. Bowen brings New York City alive for us and we can vicariously see and understand the glitter and glamour of Greenwich village, the degrading impoverishment of the lower East Side, and the wonders of the new century. The history is clearly well researched and very accurate. The book reflects the struggle of the women who came to America because they believed it was the ³land of the free² and discovered that they were enslaved by poverty and by their bosses.

But the history never overwhelms the story or pulls the reader out of it. There are the mysteries, the search to find out who is stealing designs and what happened to Katherine, and there is the ongoing relationship of Molly with the New York policeman, Daniel Sullivan, who is engaged to another woman, a member of society, who can do his career a great deal of good. And Molly meets another man as she tries to help the workers out, a man who falls in love with her.

And there is nail-biting suspense as the book nears its end and Molly along with two others is put into great jeopardy. The setting of those scenes is frighteningly well-done.

Here we have turn-of-the-century New York in all its wealth and poverty, its excitement and enchantment, and we have a woman who refuses to be forced into a mold to be what society wants her to be. It is an irresistible combination.

Reviewed by Sally A. Fellows, November 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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