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Title details for The Incorrigibles by Meredith Jaeger - Available

The Incorrigibles

by Meredith Jaeger
ebook
5 of 6 copies available
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5 of 6 copies available
An Editor's Choice at The Historical Novel Society
From USA Today bestselling author Meredith Jaeger comes an emotionally resonant novel about two women whose lives intersect as one resists the gentrification of her San Francisco neighborhood, and the other, eighty years earlier, fights for her freedom in nineteenth-century America. . . .
1890, San Francisco. Seduced by her employer’s nephew, Annie Gilmurray, an Irish maid, is accused of stealing the ring he promised her. Sentenced to one year in San Quentin, Annie is heartbroken and frightened among the inmates of the women’s ward: prostitutes, murderers, and pickpockets. But Annie finds beauty and friendship in a brutal place, where the women look out for one another, dreaming of a better life after release. But their world inside San Quentin's walls is a dangerous one, and when the unthinkable happens, Annie makes a choice that will alter the course of her future forever.
1972, San Francisco. Aspiring photographer Judy Morelli is grappling with the searing betrayal of her husband’s infidelity, subletting a San Francisco apartment while she pieces her life back together. When Judy discovers Annie's mugshot, she becomes fascinated and invested not just in Annie's fate but also in the history of her gentrifying South of Market Street neighborhood, joining the fight against redevelopment to maintain its rich community. 
Exploring the different ways in which we are imprisoned and how we can break free, The Incorrigibles is a story of women reaching across the barriers of time, the unbreakable bonds of female friendship, and the forgotten histories of those pushed to society’s margins.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 21, 2024

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780593473764

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780593473764
      • File size: 2873 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 25, 2024
      The parallel narratives of this uneven historical from Jaeger (The Pilot’s Daughter) link two San Francisco women across eight decades as they rebuild their lives after betrayals by men. Irish immigrant Annie Gilmurray is working as a housemaid in 1890 when she falls in love with her employer’s seductive nephew, Albert Hughes, who gives her an opal ring. It turns out the ring was stolen, and after Annie’s arrested for possessing it, Albert denies having given it to her. Convicted of grand larceny, she’s sentenced to a year in San Quentin. In 1972, Judy Morelli leaves her unfaithful husband, Tony, and their home in the Sacramento suburbs. She moves to San Francisco and, hoping to resume the fledgling photography career Tony resented, finds a job at a photo studio. When her boss shows her his collection of old mug shots, which includes Annie’s, Judy is haunted by the fear she sees in the woman’s face. Judy searches historical records for clues to Annie’s fate and begins taking photographs again. In Jaeger’s hands, Annie’s story offers a moving and well-researched glimpse into the challenges facing women immigrants in the Gilded Age. Unfortunately, Judy’s chapters feel tepid in comparison. This doesn’t quite reach the heights of the author’s earlier work. Agent: Jenny Bent, Bent Agency.

    • Booklist

      April 1, 2024
      In 1972 San Francisco, Judy leaves her abusive husband. She's finally pursuing her dream career in photography and is captivated by the photo of a frightened young woman in an old mugshot book. While researching the photo's backstory, Judy uses her camera skills to lift up overlooked people in her own neighborhood, which is being decimated by gentrification. Just as she's gaining self-confidence, her husband tries to reconnect. In 1890, Annie is in service to a wealthy family, trusting that her mistress's nephew loves her. Accused of stealing the ring he gave her, she is sentenced to a year in San Quentin. The women who kindly help her adjust to her harsh new reality become a community that gives her hope, that she'd do anything to protect. Vivid descriptions of South of Market and San Quentin, and the people who live there, bring the book to life. The narrative shifts between both time periods as these women, their lives uprooted by the men who failed them, find strength and resilience by nurturing their talents and building others up.

      COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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