Drawn by the Current (The Windy City Saga)

When Olive Pierce loses her best friend Claire in a tragic shipwreck, she doesn’t have the luxury of letting her life fall apart. She was not the only one to face such tragedy: when the Eastland tipped on its side, hundreds were lost, and as an insurance agent for MetLife, Olive must handle the aftermath for the various beneficiaries. Mysteries surrounding not only her friend’s death but also inconsistences in the MetLife office itself nag at her, though, forcing her to confront dangers she never imagined.

Drawn by the Current is a tenderly written novel about the strengths and setbacks associated with being a woman in 1915. The storyline is gripping, and every detail is exquisitely rendered, showing both Green’s attention and her research. The one thing that kept me from giving it five stars was the secondary characters. So many of them lacked depth and seemed to only exist to push the story along. With Olive being such a thoughtful and intriguing protagonist, it was a shame that only a few of the people surrounding her had much of an interior life.