MRS. WALFORD

Tyedmers’ historical novel paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of a woman struggling to secure her independence and find love.

When Sadie Walford checks into the elegant Queen Hotel in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1887, all is not well: The regular guest has arrived from New York City without her husband. The numerous trunks and suitcases in her wake suggest an indeterminate stay. She asks to be registered under the alias of Mrs. Wolson, but more troubling is her unusual and erratic demeanor (“This was not the charming and gregarious woman of years past”). So begins a Gilded Age drama that unfolds forward and backward through time, detailing Sadie’s remarkable resilience as she endures a strained marriage, motherhood, betrayal, and drug addiction, all while finding her artistic voice and light and life on the other side of her struggles. From lively boarding houses to stained glass studios, from the bustle of outdoor markets to the decorum of well-to-do brownstones, the deeply researched setting brings Sadie’s world to vivid, vibrant life. However, the protagonist’s tragic, romantic, and ultimately uplifting story is often stymied the book’s structural conceit—the author elects to convey the narrative from the points of view of at least a half dozen characters, a bold choice that unfortunately blunts the emotional arc of the book’s central character. Among the storytellers are Eleanor and Maggie, the bookkeeper and maid, respectively, at the Queen Hotel. Then there’s Jennie, a pickpocket. And there are the enigmatic figures of Sarah and Fred, whose identities and relationship to each other eventually form a vital core to the story. The novel simultaneously draws readers into its world but keeps them at a distance with its puzzle-piece, time-hopping approach. Still, the book’s heart is never in question, and the well-drawn characters, starting with Sadie herself, pull the reader over the occasional obstacles.

An uneven but richly drawn story of a fighter and survivor.