Book Review of
The Nature of Fragile Things

Lynn's Review

The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner was published in 2021. It is historical fiction and has 384 pages.

The Nature of Fragile Things is set in California during the earthquake and fires that hit San Francisco in 1906. 

Multiple readers recommended this book to me after I read and loved The Last Year Of the War by the same author. This is the third book by Susan Meissner that I have read and it won’t be my last. I loved this book and I really enjoy her style of writing 

I enjoy reading historical fiction, but I am picky about my historical fiction. I usually do not like books about famous people. I prefer historical fiction books that are based on events. That is exactly what this book does. It is not about real people, but it is set during a historical event that changed much of California.

What Susan Meissner does so well is weave fascinating characters into a historic event or time period.

I knew this book was about the well-known earthquake and fires that destroyed much of San Francisco in 1906, but it was about so much more than that. Yes, the earthquake and fires were an important part of the story, but they were not the whole story. 

This story has mystery, family, found family, romance, and so much more. Susan Meissner weaves so much into this story. Yes, you learn about the earthquake, but you are learning so much more. 

Susan Meissner is becoming one of my favorite historical fiction writers.