The Incorrigibles

Author: Meredith Jaeger
Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2024
Pages: 368
Rating: Recommend
 

Synopsis: 1890, San Francisco: Seduced by her employer's nephew, Annie Gilmurray, an Irish maid, is accused of stealing the ring he promised her. Sentenced to one year in San Quentin, Annie heartbroken and frightened among the inmates of the women's ward: prostitutes, murderers, and pickpockets. But Annie finds beauty and friendship in a brutal place, where the women look out for one another, dreaming of a better life after release. But their world inside San Quentin's walls is a dangerous one, and when the unthinkable happens, Annie makes a choice that will alter the course of her future forever.

1972, San Francisco: Aspiring photographer Judy Morelli is grappling with the searing betrayal of her husband's infidelity, subletting a San Francisco apartment while she pieces her life back together. When Judy discovers Annie's mugshot, she becomes fascinated and invested not just in Annie's fate but also in the history of her gentrifying South of Market Street neighborhood, joining the fight against redevelopment to maintain its right community.

Review: Dual-timeline novels are hit or miss for me, and when I do like them I generally love the past timeline and could do without the present-day. In this novel, however, I would have preferred a 1970s story from start to finish. I could identify and relate to Judy. Annie's story was difficult to read, and at times, spun its wheels.

Props to whomever came up with this creative and fitting title.

I enjoy Meredith Jaeger's novels, and this was worth the wait.

Other Meredith Jaeger Novels:
Boardwalk Summer
The Dressmaker's Dowry
The Pilot's Daughter