Blindspot

Jane Kamensky and Jill Lepore's novel Blindspot, a Novel by a Gentleman in Exile and a Lady in Disguise is sure to be a hit with fans of historical romance fiction. Stewart Jameson, a portrait painter, flees Edinburgh in 1764 to escape debtor's prison and sails for Boston. Upon reaching Boston, he sets up shop and advertises for an apprentice. When Francis Weston arrives on his doorstep, he has no idea that his new apprentice is actually Fanny Easton. Fanny is the daughter of Boston's estimable justice Edward Easton, but is now a fallen women, cast out of her home, barely surviving in the Manufacturing House. Fanny has always dreamed of becoming a painter and decides to disguise herself in order to escape her current situation. The narration alternates between Fanny and Jameson as we see Jameson worry about his creditors and struggle to scrape up new clients. Fanny begins to fall in love with Jameson and Jameson begins to have feelings for Weston, which he struggles with. Meanwhile, the murder of a local abolitionist is blamed on two slaves and Jameson's friend, a Black doctor, is determined to prove their innocence. Although Publisher's Weekly called the novel predictable with a cheesy plot, I thought it was great fun. The mystery was a little weak, but the period detail is outstanding, the characters are likable and the romance is spicy.