Janis Robinson Daly

In 1897 Philadelphia, when Eliza is given the opportunity to debut in society, she decides against it in favor of attending medical school. The book follows her schooling, career, and marriage.

I found this book to be a bit boring. The time progression seemed a bit jolting, as it skipped over large periods of time. I think the times that it skipped, for example most of her experience in medical school, would have been very interesting to read about. It also seemed that life was very easy for Eliza, other than her marriage, there was very little tension in the book. Overall, a bust.… (more)

I received The Unlocked Path by Janis Robinson Daly as part of Library thing's Early Reviewers program. The publisher's blurb describes a tale of the life an independent woman who comes into her own around the turn of the century. As a fan of women's stories and historical fiction, I was pleased to be selected to read and review this book.

The story is engaging and features many different women who interact with each other through the bonds of sisterhood all the women in the story share. There are some characters with whom you fall in love and look forward to seeing them reappear on later pages. Others fall by the wayside or are barely fleshed out almost like an afterthought.

In the early part of the book, descriptions can be overwhelmingly flowery and distract from the story. This improves as the story progresses. It also is quite Forrest Gumpy in its inclusion of many famous historical events.

As for the "independent" woman around whom the story is centered, her independence is hit and miss. Some of her choices seem incredibly out of character. In those lapses, I found the story less enjoyable.

Overall, I think this is a book with a good story that emphasizes the fiction over the historical. If you don't take it too seriously, it can be an entertaining read. If you are looking for something deep or for an emphasis on historical, look elsewhere.

Spoiler: Relationships with unequal power dynamics are gross. The fact that Eliza's big love affair is with her former professor/current residency supervisor (when it began) really put me off. The fact that he confessed his feelings to her in such a pouty, self-pitying way after leaving her, her patient, and her patient's baby in the lurch makes it even worse. Big yuck.

Then she ends up with a philandering alcoholic. Why is any of that necessary in a book written about "independent" women? … (more)

🌟𝓑𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀🌟
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗯𝘆 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀 𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗗𝗮𝗹𝘆

I was excited to read this historical fiction novel. I was gifted an advanced reader copy for review and overall I really enjoyed it.

“ 𝙰 𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕/𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗'𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍, 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚛-𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚆𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗'𝚜 𝙼𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝙲𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙿𝚎𝚗𝚗𝚜𝚢𝚕𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚊 𝚊𝚝 𝚊 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝟻% 𝚘𝚏 𝚍𝚘𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚡𝚒𝚜𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚝𝚜, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚢𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏”.

It follows Eliza a recent Pennsylvania highschool graduate in 1897 who must decide where her future path will take her. Her ultimate decision sets her on a course that few women were taking at the time. She experiences joy, heartache, historical events at the time and joins the women’s suffrage movement on top of it all.

My one and only issue was it was hard to get into at first. The author is a great writer but sometimes certain descriptions are overly complicated, long metaphors and similes that often caused me to skim over and get back to the plot of the story. I would just get into a groove and then they would slow the plot to a halt.

The second half of the story flows much better and I couldn’t put it down. I became invested in Eliza’s achievements and personal life. At times I wish certain parts of her story were elaborated upon instead of skipping ahead in time but in the end everything was wrapped up satisfactorily. I would rate this a
3 -1/2 to 4 stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️… (more)