From the critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of The Tea Rose, comes a mystery about dark secrets, dirty truths, and the lengths to which people will go for love and revenge. This spellbinding historical ficion romance tells the story of how much a young woman is willing to risk and lose in order to find the truth.
"A twisted tale of secrets, murder, love, and revenge. This historical thriller delivers... [a] fast-paced, tightly written page turner." -USA TodayJo Montfort is beautiful and rich, and soon—like all the girls in her class—she’ll graduate from finishing school and be married off to a wealthy bachelor. Which is the last thing she wants. Jo dreams of becoming a writer—a newspaper reporter like the trailblazing Nellie Bly.
Wild aspirations aside, Jo’s life seems perfect until tragedy strikes: her father is found dead. Charles Montfort shot himself while cleaning his pistol. One of New York City’s wealthiest men, he owned a newspaper and was a partner in a massive shipping firm, and Jo knows he was far too smart to clean a loaded gun.
The more Jo hears about her father’s death, the more something feels wrong. Suicide is the only logical explanation, and of course people have started talking, but Jo’s father would never have resorted to
that. And then she meets Eddie—a young, smart, infuriatingly handsome reporter at her father’s newspaper—and it becomes all too clear how much she stands to lose if she keeps searching for the truth. But now it might be too late to stop.
The past never stays buried forever. Life is dirtier than Jo Montfort could ever have imagined, and this time the truth is the dirtiest part of all.
Jennifer Donnelly is the author of three adult novels,
The Tea Rose,
The Winter Rose, and
The Wild Rose, as well as the young adult novels
These Shallow Graves,
Revolution,
Stepsister,
Poisoned and
A Northern Light, winner of Britain's prestigious Carnegie Medal, the
L.A. Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature, and a Michael L. Printz Honor Book Award. She lives and writes full-time in upstate New York. You can visit her at jenniferdonnelly.com or find @JenWritesBooks on Twitter.
Praise for These Shallow Graves:An Amelia Bloomer Project Award Book★ “
These Shallow Graves succeeds as
a wonderfully paced thriller, a heart-pounding romance and an unflinching look at the hard choices one young woman must make when society disparages her dreams.” -
Shelf Awareness, Starred Review
★ "Fast-paced and thrilling...
a smart, insightful, timely depiction of a young woman poised on the brink of a new world after the shattering of another."-
Booklist, Starred Review
★ "
Action-packed chapters propel this compelling mystery...[and] the injustices Donnelly highlights remain all too relevant."-
Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
"
A beautifully written mystery."-
SLJ
"[A] fast-paced thriller...the story races to its
surprising conclusion."-
Kirkus Reviews
"
A heroine you can't help cheering on."-
The Horn Book
"
A twisted tale of secrets, murder, love, and revenge. This historical thriller delivers...[and] Donnelly will keep you on the edge of your seat with this fast-paced, tightly written page turner."-
USA Today"Donnelly returns with
a powerhouse of a whodunit. Her eighth novel strikes hard against poverty, sexism, classism, and gree, driving as relentlessly as Jo in her pursuit of truth and freedom."-
BookPage
"
These Shallow Graves delivered all that I adore:
lovely prose, historical intrigue, unique characters and setting. I devoured this book!"-Ruta Sepetys,
New York Times bestselling author of
Between Shades of Gray and
Salt to the Sea
"
An intelligent, personable heroine-Jo Montfort's hopes for an enlightened future uncover a dark past, resulting in
a splendidly hair-raising tour of the brightest and darkest corners of Victorian New York."-Elizabeth Wein,
New York Times bestselling author of
Code Name Verity and
Black Dove, White Raven"Jo Montfort is
a gutsy modern heroine in a beguiling tale of old New York. Money, murder, betrayal, and family secrets....I loved spending time in this world!"-Elizabeth Ross, author of William C. Morris Award finalist
Belle Epoque"
A fast-paced Gilded Age crime thriller that plunges its intrepid investigative-journalist heroine into the sordid underworld of nineteenth-century New York City and into her own family's dark secrets."-Julie Berry, award-winning author of
All the Truth That's In Me
