A Daring Venture by Elizabeth Camden

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A Daring Venture

Set in the year 1908 in Jersey City, this is the fictional account of an historical event. I am learning I like historical fiction and the sometimes obscure history that comes to life in books like these. Granted, the historical component of the book can sometimes be a side glance or an after thought, but still there is history to be learned.

Doctor Rosalind Werner was orphaned at age 10 from a cholera epidemic. Now, she is desperate to create safe drinking water for everyone. And this is the fictional story surrounding the real Dr. Leal and George Fuller and their work on chlorinated water. They actually tested chlorinated water on the population without the public knowing. It's interesting to me because now it's just normal for city water to have chlorine in it.

So enough of spoilers, I don't apologize for it either, because I like to know what's true and what's not when I read the book. Sometimes, like in this book, I will stop in the middle and go back and read the historical note in the back of the book to see what is true and what isn't.

And of course, there was the opposition headed by Nick Drake, the water commissioner for New York. And, of course, you know what happens there. Anyway there are a few things I would like to comment on about Nick. He was forceful and opinionated, but willing to change when proven wrong. And he was also willing to give people a second chance, which unfortunately didn't work so well for him, but you can read the book to figure that out.

A few quotes that I thought were worth remembering: "That's something over which we have no control, so we'll do our best with what we have. It's all God asks of us."  "Glass, china, and reputations are easily cracked and never well-mended."  Both of these are interesting and give a lot of food for thought.

I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to her next one coming out in 2019 that tells the tale of Nick's cousin.

I received this book from Bethany House and was not required to write a positive review.

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