A Fall of Marigolds
*Starred Review* Taryn Michaels specializes in hard-to-find patterns at an Upper West Side fabric shop. She is haunted by her failure to find a match for a scarf covered in bright marigolds, the same scarf she was holding when the Twin Towers fell in 2001, killing her husband. Unbeknownst to Taryn, the scarf began its life in New York on Ellis Island in 1911, when a very recently widowed Welshman carried it into the scarlet-fever ward of nurse Clara Wood. Clara, like Taryn, is hiding out in her work, having witnessed the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, watching the man she loved jump from an upper floor. When Clara discovers the terrible secret of the scarf’s original owner, Lily, she must decide if she can accept the help of a handsome doctor and brave the ferry to Manhattan to find answers. Meissner’s first mainstream women’s fiction novel, after more than a dozen Christian-fiction titles, hits all of the right emotional notes without overdoing the two tragedies; instead, she seamlessly weaves a connection between two women whose broken hearts have left them in an in-between place. A good choice for Christian-fiction readers, for book groups, or for readers looking for a book of hope without schmaltz. --Susan Maguire