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rileejsmith 's review for:
The Second Mrs. Astor
by Shana Abé
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
As someone who has always been fascinated by both the history of the Titanic and the famous first society families of New York, this book was right up my alley. This tells the story of young Madeline Force and her whirlwind romance and marriage to John Jacob Astor - and its untimely end when he perished while they were both aboard the Titanic, less than a year after getting married and a few months into Madeline's pregnancy.
While this is a fictionalized story, it follows a lot of the true events that happened during Madeline's life's in the years before and after meeting JJA. It also offered a super interesting look into New York society during that time, especially a first look at paparazzi culture forming around society members, and the judgement and ridicule that came with marrying someone fresh off a divorce back in early 1910.
You really felt for Madeline and all of the weight on her shoulders that she was forced to balance throughout her life, especially at such a young age at the time, including the impact of being John Jacob Astor's widow and a new mother at just 19 years old.
Overall, if you're into Titanic or New York Society history, this is really interesting fictionalized retelling and offers up some familiar characters (including traveling with Molly Brown months before the Astors set off on Titanic). I enjoyed it for what is was and now want to go down a research rabbit hole to learn more about Madeline Astor!
While this is a fictionalized story, it follows a lot of the true events that happened during Madeline's life's in the years before and after meeting JJA. It also offered a super interesting look into New York society during that time, especially a first look at paparazzi culture forming around society members, and the judgement and ridicule that came with marrying someone fresh off a divorce back in early 1910.
You really felt for Madeline and all of the weight on her shoulders that she was forced to balance throughout her life, especially at such a young age at the time, including the impact of being John Jacob Astor's widow and a new mother at just 19 years old.
Overall, if you're into Titanic or New York Society history, this is really interesting fictionalized retelling and offers up some familiar characters (including traveling with Molly Brown months before the Astors set off on Titanic). I enjoyed it for what is was and now want to go down a research rabbit hole to learn more about Madeline Astor!