Book Review for A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner

This book weaves together two fictional stories one contemporary—the Twin Towers terrorist attack (2001) and the other historical—the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (1911). Both stories take place in New York City and are an important part of United States History. Each story is told by a female protagonist who survives a tragedy in which she feels guilty for the death of a man that she loves.

Taryn Michaels works in a fabric store called Heirloom Yard in Manhattan. She has four years of studying textiles in school and enjoys finding matches for old fabrics. She lives in an apartment above the fabric store with her nine-year-old daughter, Kendall. Taryn is a survivor of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks. She received a positive result on her pregnancy test the morning of September 11, 2001. She was heading to the twin towers when the buildings were struck by terrorists but was running late—the result of a customer’s request. Although she was close to the towers when the first attack occurred, she survived because of the kindness of a florist named Mick. He allowed her to hang out with him in his delivery van while the debris and smoke filled the air and eventually helped her get to a hospital so that she could receive treatment for her injuries. Despite surviving the experience herself, Taryn lost her husband Kent to the attacks that occurred that day. She blamed herself for his death. She had asked him to meet her at a restaurant near the top of the North Tower in order to share the news of her pregnancy.

Clara Wood worked as a nurse in the Asch Building in New York City. She is a survivor of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist fire that broke out on the top of that building. However, she lost Edward Brim, a man she had met in the elevator on her first day of work and had grown to love. His death was the result of the fire. She watched as people jumped out of the high windows of the fiery building. None of them survived. She was grieving his loss when she chose to take a job at the immigrant hospital on Ellis Island. She found it to be a good “in-between place.” She felt like she was “in-between” her past life and her future life. Clara felt an emotional connection with her patient Andrew who had lost his wife to scarlet fever on the ship while traveling to Ellis Island. They had both lost someone that they loved. She ended up with a letter written to Andrew by his deceased wife Lily.

I felt compassion towards Clara as she hid in her “in-between” place—not wanting to live in the past, but not yet ready to move into her future life. She blamed herself for Edward’s death because he had been on a floor he couldn’t escape from to meet with her. I enjoyed reading about Clara’s ethical dilemma concerning whether she should give Andrew the letter that Lily had written to him. I felt anxious to learn what she would decide. Which loss would she choose to protect him from? I really enjoyed reading these fictional stories relating to real-life tragedies that took place in New York City almost a hundred years apart. The two events did have some interesting similarities. In this book a marigold scarf helps to tie the two stories together. I recommend this book to anyone interested in reading fictional stories based on the Twin Towers terrorist attack or the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. I give this book a solid 4-star rating.