Thirteen-year-old Maddy Branch knows the odds are against her when she arrives in the fictional Mississippi River town of Reliance, Illinois in 1874. She's posing as the sister of her mother, who's fleeing poverty and abuse and hadn't mentioned a daughter when she replied "yes" to a Reliance gentleman seeking a wife through a "Matrimonial Times" advertisement. With a birthmark covering half her face and no rights of her own, Maddy feels unwelcome in her new home. But Miss Rose Werner, the theatrical and feisty aging daughter of the town's founder, ensconced in Werner Manor, recognizes Maddy's potential and asks to mentor her.
Reliance is close-minded and unforgiving. After a murder, Maddy observes "[the] Sin Society blamed suggestive artwork, novels, dancing, liquor. Liquor implicated the Germans, who blamed the Irish, who blamed the Negroes." Miss Werner, known variously as "a radical, a nuisance, a countess, a blessing, a madam, a suffragette," ignores the talk and savors life. She appoints Maddy as her memoirist, her tales adding mystery and humor to the plot. An outspoken supporter of women's rights, Miss Werner launches a subtle campaign for birth control, which she successfully introduces at gatherings masked as afternoon "soirees." Town politics, a cameo appearance by Samuel Clemens and well-formed characters add rich dimensions to Maddy's story.
"Remember, justice and change comes hard and slow," Maddy advises in 1908 as the novel closes. Volmer's unforgettable protagonist lives through social evolution, the fight for women's rights and personal strife, yet she perseveres, and Reliance, Illinois, with its universal themes and evocative period detail, is ultimately uplifting. --Cheryl Krocker McKeon, manager, Book Passage, San Francisco