A review by angelqueen04
The Second Mrs. Astor by Shana Abé

3.0

I really, REALLY wanted to give this book a higher rating, because what we got was good, but I really feel like this could have gone so much further, been so much more than it was. Shana Abé weaves the story of Madeleine Force and her romance and marriage to Colonel John Jacob Astor IV, framed in her writing the story down for their infant son, and she does a brilliant job in the box she placed herself in. All the same, I felt like the book could have been more than it was, that it might have been better served of telling Madeleine’s whole life, not just this incredibly short part of it. I think it would have made this part all the more compelling, seeing Madeleine finding the strength to carry on and even find love again, as I think Jack would have wanted her to do.

3.5 stars