Title: The Impossible Girl
Author: Lydia Kang
Published: September 2018, Lake Union Publishing
Format: ARC Paperback, 364 pages
Source: Publisher
Summary:
Two hearts. Twice as vulnerable.
Manhattan,
1850. Born out of wedlock to a wealthy socialite and a nameless
immigrant, Cora Lee can mingle with the rich just as easily as she can
slip unnoticed into the slums and graveyards of the city. As the only
female resurrectionist in New York, she’s carved out a niche procuring
bodies afflicted with the strangest of anomalies. Anatomists will pay
exorbitant sums for such specimens—dissecting and displaying them for
the eager public.
Cora’s specialty is not only profitable, it’s a means to keep a finger on the pulse of those searching for her. She’s the girl born with two hearts—a legend among grave robbers and anatomists—sought after as an endangered prize.
Now,
as a series of murders unfolds closer and closer to Cora, she can no
longer trust those she holds dear, including the young medical student
she’s fallen for. Because someone has no intention of waiting for Cora
to die a natural death.
My thoughts: After reading, and loving, A Beautiful Poison last year, I knew I would be reading whatever else Lydia Kang wrote and so I jumped at the opportunity to get my hands on an early copy of her latest book, The Impossible Girl – and I’m so glad I did…I loved it, maybe even more than last year’s book.
Once again, we delve into the early years of NYC’s history and have an expertly blended story of fact and fiction. I admit to not knowing much about resurrectionists in general, but I was utterly fascinated by this story – once I started reading it I really had a hard time putting it down!
This book has such a strong main character – Cora Lee – and she is full of intrigue and mystery. She works in a man’s field – that as a resurrectionist – and at times must disguise herself as a man. This is not only because it was unseemly for women to be digging up bodies, but also because she had a secret that could potentially get her killed well before her time to die – she was born with two hearts. To some, she would be the perfect specimen to display as a “curiosity” as was popular at the time.
Despite that fact that this book is rather dark in nature, I found myself frantically flipping the pages to see what would happen to Cora. I also loved that every so often there would be a chapter thrown in from the characters that would end up killed. I loved getting to read about their last minutes on earth – as grisly and grim as that seems. It added another dimension and layer to this already clever book.
This is an intense and gripping book. I loved the mystery surrounding who was doing the killings that were on Cora’s watch-list as much as I loved getting to the bottom of the rumors surrounding Cora herself. There were quite a bit of twists that I did not see coming to really keep you on your toes with this one. I can’t recommend this one enough!
Kristin, you make this sound so good! Like you, I don't know much about resurrectionists (will look that term up). I can tell this book really held your attention, big time!