Paradise on the Pike
This is a beautifully descriptive family saga focused around the World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1904. After his father’s death, Max Eyer and his mother sell their family potato farm in Stellingen, Germany, to Carl Hagenbeck, a famous animal trader, for him to build a zoological park. Max and his mother emigrate halfway across the world to live with Max’s uncle in St. Louis. Max finds work initially helping to build the World’s Fair exhibitions, but a chance encounter sees him working for the Hagenbeck family on their Animal Paradise on the Pike attraction, looking after exotic animals. Here Max meets the lovely Shehani, a Sinhalese dancer, and a brutal death threatens to tear his new life in America apart.
The pace of this story starts gently with Max’s transition from his old life in Germany, through to him being a new immigrant to America and then finally to him feeling that he belongs. With the introduction of the mystery element, the story builds rapidly to a surprising climax.
What I love about this story is the historical details on the World’s Fair; the reader comes away feeling that they have attended it with Max. The author shines a light on the attitudes and practices that were considered normal in 1904, but which society now knows to be wrong and she does it sensitively, without impacting the narrative. If you are a fan of formulaic historical murder mysteries, then this book is probably not for you. If you love an epic family saga grounded in real history, and with glorious descriptive prose, then you will not be disappointed.
