Where the Light Enters

Sara Donati

Sep 2019 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

From the international bestselling author of The Gilded Hour comes Sara Donati's enthralling epic about two trailblazing female doctors in nineteenth-century New York
 
Obstetrician Dr. Sophie Savard returns home to the achingly familiar rhythms of Manhattan in the early spring of 1884 to rebuild her life after the death of her husband. With the help of Dr. Anna Savard, her dearest friend, cousin, and fellow physician she plans to continue her work aiding the disadvantaged women society would rather forget.
 
As Sophie sets out to construct a new life for herself, Anna's husband, Detective-Sergeant Jack Mezzanotte calls on them both to consult on two new cases: the wife of a prominent banker has disappeared into thin air, and the corpse of a young woman is found with baffling wounds that suggest a killer is on the loose.  In New York it seems that the advancement of women has brought out the worst in some men. Unable to ignore the plight of New York's less fortunate, these intrepid cousins draw on all resources to protect their patients.

Ratings and reviews

Since I absolutely loved The Gilded Hour and all its characters, I was eager to get my hands on this sequel, Where The Light Enters. But while I enjoyed it, it didn't quite measure up to the original. (To be fair, I listened to The Gilded Hour as an audiobook --which was exceptionally well done --and with this sequel I read the book.) If you decide to read this one, definitely read the The Gilded Hour first. Cousins and doctors, Anna and Sophie Savard, are once again the central characters. About a year has passed between books. Anna is happily settled in with her police detective/husband, Jack. And Sophie, newly widowed, is just returning from an extended stay in Europe. Anthony Comstock is still obnoxiously fighting to impose his vision of decency on the city. And there's still plenty of prejudice against women who practice medicine. And the orphaned children Rosa, Lia, and Tonino make a reappearance. The mystery begins with Jack and his partner Oscar working on several disappearance cases -- primarily young women. Some are pool immigrants; others are among New York's elite. I don't want to give much away but both Anna and Sophie get involved. As does a young student physician, Elise, who is being mentored by the two Savards. There are growing complexities to the case. Beyond missing persons, it touches on midwives, including Anna and Sophie's own cousin. There's kidnapping, drug addiction, sexual abuse, mental illness, and a notorious court case. All of this makes for a compelling read, all 650 pages of it. I still loved the characters. And the book is a skillfully-constructed mystery. It was interesting how the author mixes newspaper clippings and other documents and reports into her narrative. They lend such a sense of authenticity. And clearly demonstrate that fake news is certainly NOT a new phenomenon. I think maybe I was disappointed because I didn't have the same feeling as with the earlier novel -- as if I'd time-traveled to New York City in the 1880s. This time, it was less about discovering the time period and more about the dark world that women turn to at that time, when they are unable to get the healthcare they need legally.

very interesting book. I liked all the plot twist. I wasn't expecting to like this book so much. The story didn't go back and bore me with details from the past book but kept me informed enough that I didn't get lost. The is some great characters. In all that is going on you get sucked into their lives and want to help. I won this book in a giveaway by Goodreads and am happy to do a review for it

Interesting novel about 19th century female doctors and the various levels of discrimination in Victorian society. Corruption and crime run throughout the book as the doctors and their family members try to solve crimes in which women have been deliberately subjected to septicemia due to purposefully botched abortions (which were illegal at the time.) I thoroughly enjoyed this work of historical fiction. Although there are some romantic subplots, I didn't find them silly or beside the point.

About the author

Sara Donati is the international bestselling author of the Wilderness series, which includes Into the Wilderness, Dawn on a Distant Shore, Lake in the Clouds, Fire Along the Sky, Queen of Swords, and The Endless Forest.