Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911 is an endlessly fascinating subject to mine for literature (fiction and non). There are lots of unknowns there, and plenty to be angry about. There's also the fact that, when you consider the creation of less expensive clothing, what happened in a little building in New York is by no means an event of the past. Just go to Bangladesh to visit the crumbling buildings where the young ladies work away at the Primark "bargains" to see what I mean.

But this book isn't about that; well, not really. One character is a survivor of the Fire. She's the last survivor, as a matter of fact. If it were just about her, I would have found it to be a satisfying read. Heavens knows there's enough meat on that bone to keep any novelist happy. What we get instead is a sort of meditation on music theory, mystery and intimacy that, for me, didn't quite gel.

George is a composer who has unusual inspirations for his masterpieces. He and Rebecca meet thanks to the scheming of their respective elderly relatives and form a relationship that works for them, though nobody else understands it, apparently. When Rebecca's grandmother, the last survivor of the Triangle Fire, passes away, the mystery begins.

Part of my disappointment with Triangle is that I determined what the secret was before Rebecca's grandmother passed. Then toward the end of the book, another mystery is sort of trotted out but not resolved. So, not only was there a "mystery" that wasn't a mystery, but there was a loose end that nobody bothered to weave in. Both frustrating, if in different ways. There were also lengthy segues into the creation of pieces of music that simply didn't interest me and, until the end of the book really didn't fit into the story as a whole.

Finally, there was a character I actively loathed and this person kept popping up at various points, just when I was getting used to the rhythms of the more intelligent members of the ensemble. I'm not sure if they were meant to be comic relief, a villain, or just another bit of interesting story, but I just prayed they would go away soon whenever they appeared.

All in all, a bit disappointing. There were glints of the story I was hoping to read, but they were all too infrequent.