The Secret Life of Mrs. London: A Novel

by Rebecca Rosenberg

San Francisco, 1915. As America teeters on the brink of world war, Charmian and her husband, famed novelist Jack London, wrestle with genius and desire, politics and marital competitiveness. Charmian longs to be viewed as an equal partner who put her own career on hold to support her husband, but Jack doesn’t see it that way…until Charmian is pulled from the audience during a magic show by escape artist Harry Houdini, a man enmeshed in his own complicated marriage. Suddenly, charmed by the attention Houdini pays her and entranced by his sexual magnetism, Charmian’s eyes open to a world of possibilities that could be her escape.

As Charmian grapples with her urge to explore the forbidden, Jack’s increasingly reckless behavior threatens her dedication. Now torn between two of history’s most mysterious and charismatic figures, she must find the courage to forge her own path, even as she fears the loss of everything she holds dear.

• ISBN10: 1542048737
• ISBN13: 9781542048736
• Publish Date: 30 January 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Amazon Publishing
• Imprint: Lake Union Publishing
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 348
• Language: English

Reviews

[readingwithwrin]

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for an e-arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.


In the Secret Life of Mrs.London follows Charmian London and her husband Jack London from 1915-1917.
See reviews first on my blog

Charmian is someone I found myself loving in one instant and then being completely annoyed with in the next. She's Jack's wife and muse and because of this has lost herself throughout there marriage. She's fully focused on him and making sure he stays successful, but she also has dreams of her own to become a writer. Charmian is also a boxer, horseback rider, and an excellent piano player.



Jack is, of course, the world-famous writer and now a farm owner as well.



Overall I did enjoy this book, but I also could have done without a lot of the things in this book. First I think we need to say that I've never read either of these books before. I had only ever heard of Jack London as well and didn't even know he had a wife until this book.

So many times throughout this book I found myself being absolutely annoyed/disgusted with Jack. The way he treats so many of the people around him was so frustrating to me, especially when it came to his children and how he just acted like they didn't matter. Which if that's the case then don't be around them.

As for Charmian, I found myself being frustrated with her as well because one moment she was all Jack is everything to me, and then the next she was lusting after someone else. Besides that though I really did enjoy seeing things through her eyes. All the adventures that she and Jack went on and how she was working on multiple different things at once and dealing with Jack's mood swings was fascinating to me. I also really loved how she treated the help kindly and was grateful for them and all that they did for her and Jack.



The author does an amazing job of transporting us back to the early 1900s and I couldn't get enough of it. I could have done without a lot of the content. I'm just not someone who likes when people have affairs so casually, especially when they are also upset when their spouse is doing the same thing. Either admit that you have an open relationship which is completely okay as long as both people are on board with it, or you can confront each other and fix what's happening, or finally break-up!



Because of a lot of the cheating at first, I did really like the Houdini's parts and seeing Harry outside of just his amazing talent. I loved learning about Bess and now I want to find a book about her to learn more about her because I don't know much about her either sadly.



I also loved seeing so many things like Listerine and State Fairs mentioned in this book. So many celebrity-based stories don't mention things like the State Fair even though they were very popular things during the 1900s for everyone no matter your status.



I do think a lot of people will really like this book. Just be aware that a lot of the book is about Charmian's Libido and affairs.