Contagion [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

I almost gave up on this one. Am I glad I stuck it out? Meh. It was okay. What had me wanting to put it down originally was the language. Names were heinously overused in dialogue and for me, that really stands out. People don't say each other's names when talking to each other that often. It just ends up sounding stilted and it was used so much that it grated on me enough to want to walk away. Plus the plot was really lagging at the beginning. It didn't seem to be going anywhere and it was heavily involved in the intricacies of water filtration. Good on the author for knowing her stuff, but I think far too much of that knowledge was transferred to the page unnecessarily. There were points where it really bogged down the plot and I started not wanting to pick up the book again when I put it down.

But once Nellie died, everything picked up and the suspense held me to the page enough that I wanted to keep reading. Just barely. Another pervasive irk was the insistence of people's clothing. Regardless of the POV, both Rose and Sean were exceptionally detailed about what people were wearing. Again, good on the author for being historically accurate, but again I think it was a little too much knowledge transferred to the page for my liking. I got the images the first time around. By the 25th time, I was over it. But the plot, once it picked up with Nellie's death, I was able to push aside these issues that I had and it kept me engaged in the story.

For all of the rather useless information that was dumped throughout, Dahme definitely knows how to write suspense. I absolutely wanted to know if Sean had ulterior motives and if Patrick really was the slime that he appeared to be. I really did want to find out who was behind Nellie's death and whether Patrick's faithful housemaid was just a bit touched or if she was really dangerous.

Really, the best part was how Dahme connected something as innocuous as water filtration to something sinister. It's so subtle yet so horrifying but absolutely believable. In people's bids for power and money, I wouldn't put it past them to make sacrifices out of others. It's been done before and I have no doubt it'll be done again. So while Dahme was heavy-handed with the water works information at the beginning, it did serve a bit of a purpose later on in the story. I think it would have been just as effective without so much but since she's heavy into Philadelphia's water treatment herself, I think it's only natural that it would be front and center in a story like this.

The most infuriating part of the story for me was Rose's insistence at defending her husband despite all of the evidence overwhelming him. Maybe it was a voice of the time, which I do believe. But I'd like to think that even women who were bred to stand by their man would exhibit some kind of independent thought. And since we get to be in Rose's head for half the story, you'd be able to see if something like that cropped up. But how she'd melt at a touch from her husband and forget her worries made me want to scream. I couldn't stand it. It did get very bad towards the end and really colored my vision of Rose but keeping the time in mind, I'm wondering how many options she actually had.

The ending I found both too easy and nominally satisfying. It's a decent juxtaposition. I don't want to spoil it so I'll just say that it wrapped up really abruptly and I think it gave Rose an easy way out. It saved her from actually having to fight and stand up to anyone. That bothered me. But at the same time she did stand up to people, as much as a woman of that time could. So can I really fault her for not being stronger? I don't know. But I was, in some part of me, satisfied with the ending. It rounded out the story nicely and left Rose's life open. It ended in a good spot.

Overall, the suspense was good and if you stick with the plot, it will pick itself up pretty nicely. The story had it's pitfalls but the plot was good enough to just cancel all of that out. Not one of my favorite reads but I'd recommend it just to see how good suspense can be.

If you've never thought much about typhoid epidemics, you're not alone; I certainly hadn't until I read Contagion by Joanne Dahme, which is set in Philadelphia during the late autumn epidemic of 1895. With such an unlikely scenario, Dahme introduces us to young Rose Dugan, married to financier Patrick Dugan. Rose's purpose in life seems to be as an ornament to her powerful husband, who is determined to force city officials to hire his company for water filtration in order to prevent more typhoid outbreaks. When events start to take a deadly turn, Rose begins to question her husband's involvements, both politically and socially, and it is to Sean Parker, an engineer with the Water Works, she turns to help her learn the truth.

Told in chapters alternating the points of view of Rose and Sean, we follow the dealings of Dugan as he attempts to secure the filtration rights, and the ominous situations in which Rose finds herself. Though she wants to believe her husband is a good man, the evidence keeps stacking against him; Sean knows Patrick is underhanded, and his interest in Rose grows as he sees her struggling to admit Patrick's flaws. There is deceit on many levels, and Rose begins to wonder when she beholds the magnificent mausoleum her husband has built whether or not it's for her own early demise.

There is a lot of technical jargon in Contagion, which focuses on the intricacies of the water supply in the late 1800s. The typhoid epidemic is almost secondary; the title could apply to several different types of Contagion, including greed and subterfuge. I never quite warmed up to the naive Rose, and felt the characters were sometimes one-dimensional.Still, it's an interesting plot with enough twists to keep the reader fully engaged.

For as long as she can remember, Rose has been promised to Patrick Dugan, a liaison forged between their two prominent Philadelphia Irish families. Once married to him she finds herself mistress of a grand home and a staff of servants.

But their marriage also began with sadness, as Rose's parents both died from typhoid and Patrick's parents were felled by accidents. Now the threat of typhoid is being raised again--by Patrick who wants a lucrative city contract to build filtration ponds to prevent it. The city waterworks bureau, and its dedicated guardian, Sean, maintains the water can be safe without the ponds if pollution can be kept from it.

The conflict spills into Rose's life when a series of threatening letters warn her husband to stop his efforts. Then her best friend Nellie is murdered. With the help of the police and of Sean, Rose searches for Nellie's murderer and puts her own life in danger in the process.

Contagion by Joanne Dahme is set in the late 1800s, a time when cities were trying to figure out how to accommodate industrial growth while maintaining the integrity of their water supply. Through Rose's eyes we see both the beauty and grandeur of Philadelphia at the time and the seedier side of life that was reality for many workers. It was also a time of political and police corruption that often led to back-room deals that had little to do with the population's welfare.

Part historical fiction, part mystery, Contagion will have you wanting to savor the details while you also long to flip pages furiously and find out what happens. I recommend it for mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 14 and up.