Contagion

by Joanne Dahme

Overview

Rose Dugan is a young and beautiful woman living in Philadelphia in the late 19th century passionate about keeping Philadelphia's water reservoir clean and healthy. But when Rose starts receiving threatening letters, warning her to convince her husband to shut down his plans for a water filtration system or else, things take a turn for the worse. A conspicuous murder and butting heads cause Rose to search for the culprit, the truth, and a way to keep the people of Philadelphia safe from contagion in more ways than one.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780762441693
Publisher:	Running Press Book Publishers
Publication date:	10/05/2010
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
File size:	439 KB
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Joanne Dahme has first-hand knowledge about the rivers and streams in the Philadelphia area as she works for the Philadelphia Water Department as its Watersheds Programs Manager. Her mission is to restore and revitalize Philadelphia's rivers and streams. During her years with the department, Joanne obtained a Master's of Journalism and Master's in Creative Writing from Temple University. Joanne has completed a number of short stories and young adult novels. She lives with her husband and son in Philadelphia.

Editorial Reviews

Kirkus, 10/1/10
"A gripping read with a feisty heroine…"

From the Publisher

A spirited young woman encounters murder and deception as Philadelphia battles deadly typhoid in 1895. Married to wealthy, arrogant Irish contractor Patrick Dugan, 18-year-old Rose finds her husband attractive but troubling. When Rose and her friend Nellie volunteer on the park-beautification committee to preserve the city waterworks, she meets the sympathetic chief engineer, Sean Parker, who becomes Patrick's bitter rival over a controversial proposal to build an expensive water-filtration plant. Sean's attracted to Rose and feels protective after she receives threatening letters and Nellie is killed under mysterious circumstances while wearing Rose's cloak. Rose's loyalty to Patrick wavers when he's implicated in the typhoid epidemic. In alternating voices tinged with Victorian formality, Rose and Sean relate this story of duplicity, greed and contagion, adding immediacy to the twisted plot and historical detail. A gripping read with a feisty heroine, despite the wordy text, often purple prose and heavy focus on water treatment. (Historical fiction. 13 & up)

Kirkus Reviews