I was transported deep into the lives of Blanche, Jenny, Arthur and Ernest, who, along with most of the other characters in this novel, really lived.ĭonoghue tells me she knew she had to write a novel about Jenny Bonnet when she discovered her in Autumn Stephens’ Wild Women about 15 years ago. This is the premise of Donoghue’s latest novel, Frog Music (Little Brown and Picador, 2014), which is comprised of two intricately woven stories: that of Blanche’s life immediately after Jenny’s murder, and what happened in the weeks leading up to the murder.įrog Music contains the deft storytelling, graphic prose, and lifelike characterization that Emma Donoghue has become known for through novels such as international bestsellers Room (Little Brown, 2010) and Slammerkin (Virago, 2000). When Jenny is shot to death, Blanche embarks on a quest that involves both survival and justice. Jenny is inquisitive, and her questions over a shared meal of frogs’ legs make Blanche examine her life choices. But during a smallpox epidemic, she meets Jenny Bonnet, who, in the words of author Emma Donoghue, is “a risk-loving, cross-dressing, quirky young woman who live as if she knew she’d only get 27 years.” Leaving Paris’s Cirque d’Hiver, she establishes herself as a dancer in the House of Mirrors, entertaining many of its patrons after-hours, using this income to keep her companions Arthur and Ernest fed and clothed in the best bohemian style. In the 1870s, people are moving there from across the globe, and Blanche Beunon is among them.

The gold rush is over, and San Francisco is growing into the eclectic Californian city we know today. Emma Donoghue discusses her latest novel.

Frog music book review