A Fall of Marigolds

A Fall of Marigolds
by Susan Meissner

This novel flips between two women, a hundred years apart.  They are tied together by a scarf, and as you read the novel, you find out how the scarf connects them.

It is September 1911, and Clara watched the man she cared for fall to his death in a tragic fire.  She feels guilt as he would have lived had he been working on his normal floor, but he was coming down the building to get her.  He was going to show her the sewing room.  They had barely spoken, but Clara just knows it was the beginning of something between the two of them and she is devastated to see him, and others jump to their deaths as the building is on fire.  

Clara goes on to work as a nurse at Ellis Island.  There she meets a man who has recently lost his wife to scarlet fever.  They were not married long, and they had married after a very short time.  This reminds Clara of her and the man she saw die.

September 2011 and Taryn is single raising her daughter.  On September 11th, 2001 she was on her way to see her husband at the world trade center to tell him that she was pregnant.  She picks a scarf up for work along the way and it makes her late to her date with her husband.  This changes her life.

I really liked this one.  I found Clara's story more interesting, but most of the book was her story, so that might be why.  You just read more about her,  the chapters about Taryn were quite a bit less.

Interesting how both women had similarities, both trying to move on after a tragic accident.  Both having someone they loved, or would love, die tragically.  

While reading, I cared about both main characters, I wanted them to be able to move on after the tragedies.

This is the first book I have read by this author, and I'm adding a few of her other books to my reading list.