Every Word Unsaid. Kimberly Duffy. 2021. 352 pages. [Source: Review copy]
First sentence: Nothing brought Augusta Constance Travers more joy than slipping away. And nothing frustrated her more than the companion meant to keep her from doing so.
Gussie Travers, our heroine, is Miss Adventuress. She takes photographs on her Kodak camera and writes [fluff] travel pieces. Her work is supposed to be anonymous. No one is supposed to know that she comes from society. But. All secrets come to light...eventually. Such is the case with Gussie's "big" secret. Much to her family's shame and disapproval. A daughter that TRAVELS the country on her own??? A daughter that WORKS???? Who would ever want to marry such a strange and unnatural girl?
After she is outed, Gussie travels to India--expenses paid by the newspaper/journal/magazine. She'll start her once-in-a-lifetime adventure (as Miss Adventuress) by spending some time with old family friends (who are conveniently living in India, don't you know). But to her utter SHOCK AND DISMAY they aren't exactly thrilled (jumping up and down at her arrival) because they are in the midst of a pandemic--bubonic plague. No worries for Miss Adventuress. Surely bubonic plague isn't dangerous or even all that contagious! She'll do just fine going wherever she wants and doing whatever she wants. No worries. She is free; she is independent. She is going to take photographs of everything and everybody! Hooray for full-time adventures!
She soon finds herself in love with the place and the people. Will she ever want to leave India? What if she wants more from life than adventure? What if she wants something completely different that she has always shunned before?
I have a love/hate relationship with this book. On the one hand, it kept me reading. I loved the hero--a doctor. And it's a friend-to-lovers romance. Also possibly marrying your best friend's brother??? Regardless of which it truly is, it has some satisfying moments. On the other hand, there were plenty of moments when I truly did want to shout at the characters. There were moments where you doubted the characters had any intelligence at all. (These moments were few, thankfully!)
Before reading this one, I had no idea of the 1897 Bombay Plague and the resulting Epidemic Disease Act of 1897. To be fair, I didn't learn much history from the novel. But it did make me curious enough to do an internet search to find out if the bubonic plague was a plot device--so the historical characters could voice strong opinions on pandemics and politics--or historical fact. I read this article.
There were definitely things that I enjoyed/liked about this one.
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