I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Opium and Absinthe by Lydia Kang Published by Lake Union Publishing on July 1 2020
Genres: Young adult, historical, Thriller
Pages: 379
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: A perfect mix of history and mystery, Opium and Absinthe was both engaging and informative.
I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, so I was delighted to discover that I loved reading about New York City in 1899. Kang builds her fascinating, multilayered story around several historical events: first, the publication of Bram Stoker’s Dracula; and second, the extensive use of opioids and other addictive drugs during a time when doctors and scientists didn’t know the full extent of their dangerous qualities. At the heart of the story is a murder mystery, though, and it’s this element that tied everything together and made this so much fun to read.
Tillie Pembroke lives a life of ease, belonging to a well-to-do family. As is customary for the time period, Tillie is being groomed for marriage someday, and at seventeen she knows her days of freedom are numbered. In fact, her older sister Lucy has just become engaged to James Cutter, whose family is eager to have their son marry into money. But Tillie has a sharp and inquisitive mind and has no use for a husband or children. She yearns to be a writer someday and work as a journalist, just like her hero, the famous Nellie Bly.
But one day, Lucy goes missing, and it isn’t long before she turns up dead, her body drained of blood. When the newspaper reveals all the shocking details about the state of her body—there are two small bite marks in her neck, and an empty bottle of absinthe was found at the scene of the crime—Tillie is convinced that the murderer is a vampire, especially since everyone is talking about Dracula, a book that is making headlines. With the help of a newsboy named Ian Metzger, Tillie begins sneaking out of her house at night to chase after clues, determined to bring her sister’s murderer to justice. And when another body is found in the same condition as Lucy’s, Tillie knows she must solve the mystery before he strikes again.
It’s obvious that Lydia Kang did a ton of research in preparation for writing this book, because there are so many wonderful, historical details seamlessly integrated into the story. Most importantly, Kang explores what it was like to be a woman at the turn of the century, and how women’s maladies were often brushed aside as mental illness or hysteria. Because the medical field was still in its infancy, there were so many things that shocked me about drug use at that time. One of the main themes in Opium and Absinthe is drug addiction, and how common it was for women especially to become addicted to opium, morphine and heroin. In the beginning of the story, Tillie falls off her horse and breaks her collarbone. The doctor prescribes opium for the pain, and Tillie’s addiction is almost immediate. Later she’s offered morphine shots and even heroin pills to help with her pain, but by that time Tillie’s bones have healed, and she’s making excuses to keep taking the drugs. It was horrifying the way the men in her life used her drug addiction to keep Tillie in line, and watching Tillie’s body react to the drugs was heartbreaking. It’s also interesting to note that the author herself is a physician, and many of the medical elements were inspired by her studies.
I also liked the way the publication of Dracula tied into the murders, although spoiler: there aren’t any real vampires in this story, and I feel like readers should know this going in, because the blurb makes it sound like the story has supernatural elements. One of Tillie’s methods for tracking down the killer is to do research, and so she buys a copy of Dracula for inspiration. The other historical event that I loved was in the inclusion of “newsies,” the young newspaper sellers who eventually stage a strike for better pay and working conditions. The story follows four newsies, including Ian and his friends Piper, Pops and Sweetie, and I loved the way Tillie becomes almost a mother figure to the three younger newsies. It also made me want to see the musical Newsies again, which is based on that historic strike!
Tillie herself is a great character, a young woman with a fierce desire to learn in a time when women had very little choice in what they did with their lives. Ian inspires Tillie to write an article about the murders, and so she dips her toes in the alluring waters of journalism and writing. I also really liked Ian’s character. He’s the boy from the wrong side of the tracks, a boy from an immigrant family with nothing much to offer a young lady of Tillie’s stature. But Tillie sees Ian as an escape from her claustrophobic life, and she does everything she can to spend time with him.
The rest of the characters are a bit on the clichéd side, though: the strict, mean grandmother; James, Lucy’s fiance who is only after the Pembroke fortune and sets his sights on Tillie after Lucy dies; a shady man named John who is hired to watch Tillie and keep her from leaving home; and Dorothy, Tillie’s catty, gossiping friend who uses Tillie to get closer to James.
I did have a couple of issues with the story. As much as I loved all the fascinating information about Tillie’s drug addiction, the author loses sight of her murder mystery-focused plot at about the halfway point, and Tillie’s addiction takes center stage while she’s trying to wean herself off the opium and morphine. At this point the book started to feel like an “issue” story—the dangers of drug addiction—and it felt a little heavy-handed to me. Luckily, Kang soon picks up the pace and excitement from the first half, and gives the reader a satisfying conclusion.
There were also a couple of things that didn’t make sense, and some of Tillie’s decisions had me scratching my head. First of all, Tillie is carefully watched and not allowed out by herself, yet she manages to sneak out of the house almost every night and meet up with Ian, cavort around the bad part of town (where Ian introduces her to absinthe, no less), and get back home without any of her family noticing. Tillie also makes a really stupid decision late in the story—although I acknowledge that her decision is based on catching Lucy’s killer—but it just felt sort of ridiculous and unbelievable.
But despite these issues, I had a great time reading Opium and Absinthe. Lydia Kang brought the world of 1899 New York City to life with engaging characters, interesting historical elements, and a tantalizing mystery. The author manages to wrangle all her many ideas into a surprisingly cohesive story, and I’m eager to see what she comes up with next.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
This actually sounds like a really good book! I love historical fiction that plays on the supernatural beliefs of the time to add suspense and mystery – even if it all turns out to be completely human in origin! I’m not so much of a fan of ‘issue’ books though – call me an escapist – but as long as the story winds back to it’s original intent I’m sure I’d be happy! 😀
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The “issue” parts are pretty minor compared to the overall enjoyment I had, so I definitely recommend it:-)
As you know I love historical fiction and I’m also obsessed with this particular era so BONUS POINTS for that! Aside from that it also sounds like a really good mystery. I think I’m very likely to be picking this one up at some point!
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I can definitely see you enjoying this one, Stephanie:-)
I won’t even lie, the title alone made me interested in reading this. Your review definitely made that feeling stronger!
Thanks Paige, it’s definitely worth reading:-)
The issues you mentioned might prove slightly off-putting, granted, but in this book the combination of the vampire theme with the very interesting – and historical – element of women’s drug addiction would be a powerful magnet for me.
Thank you so much for sharing this! 🙂
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I have never read anything dealing with addiction during that time period, so it was an eye opener for me. Fascinating!
Great review! I’m looking forward to reading this one — it was a free book via Amazon last month, so I’m glad I snagged a copy!
Oh cool, enjoy!
I’ve been looking forward to your thoughts on this one as I love the cover and the basic premise. I think I’d like it. Fantastic review!
Thanks Anne!
Fabulous review, Tammy and I’m glad you enjoyed this one so much. While much about this one tempted me – I am also aware that some of your niggles – the stupid decisions and the fact that she is somehow able to sneak out every night without being discovered – would highly aggravate me. But I love the premise and the wonderful cover – thank you for sharing:))
Despite my issues, it’s still a lot of fun, and I learned a lot!
That’s awesome. Even with some issues it sounds like you had a lot of fun with this one. And I think I like that there aren’t actually supernatural elements, as much as I sometimes enjoy those. That has me even m0re curious to see how it all turns out.
It worked so much better without the supernatural elements, I thought. Just a really interesting historical/mystery:-)
Despite some issues you mentioned, I’m stilled to see a 4/5 rating. So glad I have a copy of this one.
I hope you enjoy it:-)
Issues aside, I am very happy you enjoyed this book! I have it on my TBR, even if I get approved for it after I posted my Summer TBR so I have other titles which have the precedence, but I hope to read it soon!
It was a lot of fun and worth reading!
Great review! I’m a big reader of historical fiction and that NYC 1890’s setting really appeals to me. I also had to chuckle a bit about Tillie initially thinking Dracula was the murderer. I agree that it does seem odd that she is so easily able to sneak out each night to do her sleuthing if she’s watched like a hawk every day. I think that inconsistently would probably bother me a bit as well.
I didn’t mention it in my review, but the things I found silly in the book really made it feel more YA than adult. Maybe that’s why I had some issues, since it’s not marketed as YA.
Love this thoughtful review, Tammy. I have seen a totally love it review for this one and then a one-star, and so I’m happy to see your review falling in between but highlighting many strengths because I’ve been really intrigued by this one.
Interesting, I think one star is pretty harsh, but not everything works for all readers:-)
Your review has made me want to read this despite the issues. I’ll likely grab it on audio if I see it on my Overdrive.
I thought the history aspect was super interesting. Not sure why drug addiction is so fascinating to me, lol!
This is on my tbr and I can’t wait to get to it myself. Great review!
Thanks Lauren, hope you enjoy:-)
Oh, this sounds amazing! I used to read a lot more historical fiction, maybe I should check this one out. Plus I really love the cover. 😀
The cover is pretty, right? I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, but when I do I always wonder why I don’t read it more often:-)
I don’t know how I missed this *headdesk* it sounds right up my street.
I have to have it.
Lynn 😀
I used to not like historical fiction much, but now I enjoy getting lost in another time and place. That’s cool that the author really used the setting and included so much historical detail! But I’m glad you mentioned it not actually having supernatural elements because I do find it frustrating when you’re led to believe a book does have that, and then it doesn’t.