Historian Jean Zimmerman has written several very well received histories
among them Love Fiercely, A Guilded Age Romance and The Woman of the House: How
a Colonial She-Merchant Built a Mansion, A Fortune and a Dynasty. Her most
recent book is also her first novel, The Orphanmaster.
Set in 1663 New Amsterdam, The Orphanmaster is the story of the murder
of an 8 year old African-American slave, Piddy Gullee, the economics of orphans and the Charles the II sanctioned
hunt for the murders of Charles the I. Sounds good right? Yes but there is one
problem. Every bit of research Zimmerman has done for this novel is right there
in your face.
Zimmerman doesn’t do herself any favors by not letting go of her
historians need to educate mindset. At times (and by that I mean often) The
Orphanmaster is an endless fact dropping storm settled over top of the plot. It
is difficult to gain a reading momentum at the beginning of The Orphanmaster
given the mini lessons that Zimmerman keeps interrupting her story with. It’s
all really interesting but too much lecture and not enough action. There is a noticeable
lessening of this here-is-all-my-research style but it never fully disappears
into the novel.
On the plus side is Zimmerman’s main character, Blandine van Couvering
and the setting. The potential in historical fiction for the heroine to be a
way ahead of her time superwoman is always there. It’s a rare writer who can
avoid that trap but Zimmerman does. In fact she does an excellent all way round
with the characters. You are going to meet some interesting people in The Orphanmaster.
Maybe this is the element of the novel
where Zimmerman’s background in nonfiction gives her a leg up on other writers.
Certainly that same theory can apply to how well she recreates a very gritty, realistic
1663.
Despite my complaints about the heavy-handed history lessons they are
interesting. I did learn a lot Ms. Zimmerman. The Orphanmaster is stuffed with
very satisfying melodrama, creepiness and memorable characters.
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