"Blindspot", a collaboration between Jane Kamensky and Jill Lepore, is a wonderful historical romance. The novel has two narrators--Fannie Easton, a fallen Boston woman of aristocratic birth who disguises herself as Francis Weston to move freely in Boston society; and Samuel Jameson, a Scottish painter who has come to America to flee debtors prison in Britain. Fannie answers Jameson's ad for an apprentice, and Francis Weston becomes Jameson's apprentice. A comedy of errors ensues, as Fannie and Jameson--who believes Fannie is a young boy--fall in love, become involved in a murder investigation, and paint all of Boston society.
This book is smart and enjoyable. The book uses a diary/letter style to make the use of two narrators easy for the reader--there is no confusion about who is narrating at any given point. As you would expect from two college professors, Kamensky and Lepore did a thorough job researching their work, and their portrayal of Boston immediately before the American Revolution feels authentic, from the scenery to the language. This book really pulls you in, and you want to figure out what is going to happen in all of the different storylines--with the romance, with the mystery, with the other characters in the novel.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical romances. The romance and the mystery plots are both captivating, and you will keep turning the pages on this great book.
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