THE MESMERIST

A charitable residence for women in 19th-century Minnesota is at the center of a murderous mystery.

The Bethany Home for Unwed Mothers offers the women who reside there a chance to begin their lives anew. When its newest resident arrives with a dirty gown on her body and vivid bruises on her neck, it causes a stir, but not a shock. The woman, who is silent even when asked her name, is christened Faith Johnson and asked few other questions. Soon, though, the home, which prides itself on the transformational impact it has on the women who live and work there, is rocked by rumors concerning the mysterious Faith. Abby Mendenhall, board treasurer for the Sisterhood of Bethany, asks Faith’s roommate, May, to investigate the suspicious circumstances of her arrival. While Faith and May grow closer, the other “inmates” keep their distance from the pair. Faith is accused of being a Mesmerist, capable of convincing others to do her bidding, and Abby thinks the death and disappearances plaguing local brothels might be traced to Bethany Home’s newest charge; in the newspapers, a swirl of accusations mounts against the residence’s practices. As the journalists circle closer, Abby’s decisions increasingly straddle the line between doing the right thing and seeming to. In the backroom of one of the local brothels, a former tenant asks her, “What did you expect me to do, anyway? Go work as a seamstress? They’re paid three dollars a week now, Mrs. Mendenhall. A month’s bed and board can be as much as twenty. How’s a girl to live?” “How’s a girl to live?” is this book’s central question. Faith, May, and their peers are scrabbling for a livable future among a few meager offerings: marriage, poverty, or brothel. Each woman must consider how to do the right thing, how to create a good life, and what those ideas, once examined, truly mean. The trust that ebbs and flows among the characters is this novel’s strength; the supposed suspense at its center feels muted and dry by comparison.

An atmospheric turn through a real-life 19th-century scandal.