Scandal’s Daughter
Scandal’s Daughter spins a tale of extramarital liaisons, romance, and betrayal. The story revolves around the scandalous life of Isaac Merritt Singer, developer of the sewing machine: a brilliant inventor who had a shocking domestic life. Hart creates a fictional daughter, Gussie, for Isaac Singer, and the story is told around her character.
Hart takes the reader back in time to the still-developing and ever-changing New York City just before the Civil War. The political and social turmoil during this time in history is well written into the story. Gussie’s steamy romance with a young lawyer causes the city’s social elite to ostracize the Singer family. Her character is also used to introduce a number of social issues, including the rights of women workers, immigration, slavery, and the innovation of machinery into the industrial world. Scandal’s Daughter is a fast moving and passionate story that keeps the reader wanting to know more right up to the last page.
