The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman

When you decide to read a book by an author that you have never read before based on a review of the book in a magazine, you may find yourself unprepared to intelligently discuss the book in a crowd of people who know her work.  I was at a Father's Day brunch, having just finished the book in short order, and when I mentioned th book, a well read woman across the table from me said, "Oh, yes, she the author who has magical elements in ther book".  My initial thought was no, that's not it, but on second thought, that was definitely there.  One of the two main characters was born with webbed digits, swims prodigious lengths of the Hudson River, and may or may not need to hold her breath under water. The mermaid reference is undeniable.

The reason that I didn't tumble to that when I was reading the book, which is set in 1911 in New York City admist terrible abuses of immigrant laborers and the beginnings of unions, is because the two main characters immigrated to the United States as children, worked to maintain themselves at an early age, were each abused in their own ways, and are both damaged by childhood trauma.  Eddie did a stint as a gangster, and is estranged from his father, while Coralie is put on display by her father, eventually in a sexual way.  So not altogether happy stuff, and the backdrop is that the factory owners are willing to kill to keep their businesses just the way they are.  Yet despite all, the story ends on a happy note, and it is quite entertaining along the way.