BookPage Teen Top Pick, November 2015
Set in 1890s New York City, when social lines starkly divided the city, These Shallow Graves follows the urban adventure of a smart, independent and beautiful young woman from high society who’s willing to risk everything to solve the mystery of her father’s untimely death.
Despite all the pleading from her wealthy friends and family, Josephine Montfort finds it hard to be content with everything being handed to her on a silver platter. She’s more captivated by the work of trailblazing reporter Nellie Bly, and she loves writing shocking exposés of the city’s societal ills. After her father is found dead in his study one night, Jo discovers that her polished world is far too small and suffocating. His “accidental suicide” reeks of foul play, and Jo grows ever more bold in her quest for the truth, eventually enlisting the help of handsome reporter Eddie Gallagher to hunt for clues. But as Jo and Eddie inch closer to the hard facts, repeatedly poking NYC’s seedy underbelly in the process, they find something bigger and more dangerous than either of them could have imagined.
Best known for her 2003 novel A Northern Light—one of Time magazine’s “100 Best Young-Adult Books of All Time”—author Jennifer Donnelly returns with a powerhouse of a whodunit. Her eighth novel strikes hard against poverty, sexism, classism and greed, driving as relentlessly as Jo in her pursuit of truth and freedom.
Justin Barisich is a freelancer, satirist, poet and performer living in Atlanta. More of his writing can be found at littlewritingman.com.
This article was originally published in the November 2015 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.
