Praise from Reviewers
a strong and finely crafted psychological novel
THE SHOPKEEPER’S WIFE is a strong and finely crafted psychological novel about friendship, gender, and murder. You might call it a very quiet thriller.
Ursula K. Le Guin, author of The Earthsea Triology
well-paced and provocative
THE SHOPKEEPER’S WIFE is a well-paced and provocative novel, with a cinematic wealth of minutely observed period detail.
Michael J. Lewis, 19th Century Magazine
exquisite writing
Beyond the intriguing story, there is the exquisite writing: quiet, methodical, poetic.
Marilyn Monaco-Han, Chestnut Hill Local, Philadelphia
a blend of period detail and psychological acuity
The book succeeds with a blend of period detail and psychological acuity. Sickels builds her plot slowly and layers her characters' relationships with subtlety.
Publisher’s Weekly
a dramatic murder trial
Sickels uses friendship as a foundation for exploring an array of social issues. And then there’s the excitement of the novel’s climax, a dramatic murder trial.
Catherine Sias, Book List
a study of American women’s limitations in the late 1880’s
Based on a real-life murder, the novel evolves into a study of American women’s limitations--social, economic, and sexual--in the late 1880’s.
Melissa Sherman, Rowan Magazine
Praise from Readers
This book has it all
Sickels takes great care in making each character, even the most minor of them, come alive and seem like real, well-rounded individuals. This book has it all: mystery, suspense, drama, history, tragedy, romance, and friendship, all intertwined with gender issues in a beautifully written novel that unwraps itself slowly and carefully to stay with its readers long after it’s been read.
Carmona, Reader to Reader
made me continue to think about it
This was one of those books that made me continue to think about it even as I went about my business. The story of a woman in service to a lady accused of murdering her husband, this book also looks at the ways in which women’s thoughts were changing, moving away from being simply an extension of one’s husband, and how they began grasping for their own legal rights.
Karyl, Good Reads
easy to settle into
This story was easy to settle into and enjoyable. The characters were vivid and interesting.
doodlebug, Amazon
I didn’t want to finish
I absolutely loved THE SHOPKEEPER'S WIFE It was a book I didn’t want to finish because the joy of reading it was so great. ... It is uncanny how the story simultaneously made me grateful that I live today, a more or less independent, liberated woman, and yet yearn for an innocence which has been lost in this century.
Delores M. Rooney, Oregon
Highly recommendable
Sickels is a master at appropriate and unobtrusive metaphors that pull their weight to enhance the story, the character, the action, the mood. Highly recommendable.
Madge Walls, Reader to Reader
I couldn’t put it down
I couldn’t put it down till I was done reading it.
Jenny Fabriola, Amazon
a good historical novel
We see Hanna’s transformation from a simple maid-of-all-work to someone who firmly grasps her own destiny. Simply put, one likes Hanna. It is fondness for her character that makes this a good historical novel.
Zia Munshi, Nom de Plume
I lived it as I read it.
THE SHOPKEEPER'S WIFE is a fabulous book. I simply lived it as I read it. It is a masterpiece of a novel.
Nina Palmer, California
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