SILVER ECHOES - Rebecca Rosenberg

Rebecca Rosenberg's Silver Echoes is compelling historical fiction based on real people and events set in the early 20th century.

We mostly follow Silver Dollar Tabor - the daughter of Horace and Baby Doe Tabor who made their fortune during the silver mine boom in Colorado and were among the country's elite. Silver hopes to use her family's fame as a springboard and take the world by storm as an entertainer, but fame would allude her, especially after the death of her father and the loss of the mines (and therefore an income).

Determined to make something of herself in the entertainment world, and to get back some of the Tabor fortune, Silver takes any job that's offered, leading her into the circus, working with dangerous animals.

As if life wasn't challenging enough for Silver, she struggles with a personality disorder and has even given her alter ego a name - Echo LaVode - and will introduce herself as such when she's under Echo's control.

Silver/Echo travels wherever the work takes her and the book alternates chapters from Silver's point of view in the 20's to her mother's POV in the 1930's trying to find out what has happened to her daughter - in part because a Hollywood screenwriter has reached out and wants to write a movie about Silver.

I loved the historical aspects of this book. Historical fiction from the 1920's has great appeal to me. That our protagonist is female in this era, striking out on her own, is wonderful. That she struggled so has a lot to do with the ignorance of men in charge and the lack of any real knowledge of mental health.

Each chapter starts with the 'current' (at the time of the chapter) price of silver. This is a clever device, letting us know in such a simple manner, the economy of the country and the status of the wealthy.

I'm not generally a fan of chapters that jump back and forth in time, though again, because it starts with the price of silver, it's easy to know which timeline we're in.

My biggest concern with the book is the number of characters who make appearances or play important roles in the story. I struggled (and lost the struggle) to keep some of the people straight. With Silver's rather scattered, episodic life, she encountered many people. We don't need to know them all but it's hard to know who will have influence on her.

What I found interesting is that Silver's life appears to be quite depressing, but Rosenberg portrays her as strong and determined, never letting outside forces get her down. Inside forces however, are harder to control and eats away at her.

This was interesting enough that I've read through a few web pages about Silver, Baby Doe, and Silver's sister Lily (looks like another book following Lily is coming out next year). Catching my interest enough that I want to learn more speaks well for the book.

Looking for a good book? Silver Echoes is historical fiction by Rebecca Rosenberg, featuring a couple of determined women in the 1920's era, struggling with a rise and fall of wealth and fame, and dealing with mental health challenges.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

3-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

Silver Echoes

author: Rebecca Rosenberg

publisher: Lion Heart

ISBN: 9781732969964

paperback, 370 pages

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