Christina Van der Waals appears to be such a girl, a Dutch immigrant with hopes of becoming a singer. Christina disappears, however, almost upon her arrival and instead of writing about her journey to achieve her dream, Webb finds himself searching for the young woman, uncovering police and government corruption.

Along the way, Webb meets Rebecca Davies who provides a shelter for young women and helps them to find legitimate work and to keep them safe from those more than will to exploit these naïve young women.

Troy Soos has presented an accurate, well-researched picture of New York City in the late nineteenth century, from the saloonkeepers who pay the police to keep their saloons open and relatively safe, to the labor abuses and deplorable treatment of many immigrants, especially young single women.

Marshall Webb and Rebecca Davies are both from well-to-do backgrounds, but have chosen to live very different lives from their families. They are attractive characters alone, but fit well together, making a compelling pair that will be interesting to get to know better. The other characters depict many types that are authentic to the times, though a young motion picture developer seems more often out of place than helpful to the plot.

While the plot of Island of Tears is a very sad one, there is not as much of a need to learn who is perpetrating these crimes, as to why they are, and what might be done to stop the atrocities. Either as a fine beginning to a new historical series, or as a stand-alone novel, Island of Tears is sure to appear to a wide number of readers.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry