Set in San Francisco during the 1876 heatwave and smallpox epidemic, this is a story based loosely on known historical fact. Our heroine is Parisian-born Blanche, exotic dancer and prostitute, who lives with her lover Arthur and his companion Ernest. The other star of the story however is Blanche's new friend Jenny, eccentric rider of a penny-farthing, who dresses in male clothing and catches frogs for a living. And P'tit, baby P'tit.

This is a racy portrait of life in a sleazy city, one where crime is part of everyday life. It's a murder mystery too - a murder which wasn't solved at the time and is not entirely satisfactorily solved in this version of events.

I should have enjoyed this book. It wears its scholarship lightly, and the main characters are engagingly interesting. The references to popular music are entertaining. I guess I felt some very serious editing wouldn't have come amiss. 300 pages would have seen this story told and told well. I'm rather glad to have made it to the end. ( )

Choppy writing style. Cannot get into it. ( )

I really enjoyed Emma Donoghue’s Room so I was keen to read her latest novel. Frog Music is set in San Francisco in 1876, where the city is in the twin grips of a smallpox epidemic and a scorching heat wave. The novel explores the events surrounding an actual murder of the time, that of the cross-dressing frog catcher Jenny Bonnet.

The story is told from the point of view of Jenny’s friend Blanche, a French prostitute who dances and sings at a notorious brothel (another form of Frog Music?). Blanche is in a relationship with the gambling wastrel Arthur, with whom she has a son, P’tit, whom they have abandoned to the care of a baby farm.

Blanche encounters Jenny by accident and an attraction quickly forms. Jenny’s questioning leads Blanche to track down P’tit; she discovers him sickly and in dire need and rescues him, placing her professional and private relationships in immediate danger.

Shortly afterwards, Jenny is dead, shot through the window of a hotel bedroom. Blanche is sure that Arthur is responsible, and that Jenny was an accidental victim of an attempt on Blanche's life. She sets about trying to track down Arthur and avenge Jenny.

This is an entertaining book and a very good crime novel with a bit of a different setting. Donoghue keeps you guessing, and she also does a great job of describing San Francisco and the life of the underclass that Blanche is a part of. The only part of this book that did not ring true for me was that so much of the novel depends on Blanche’s maternal instincts for the misshapen, sickly and unloveable P’tit overcoming all of her desires for the life that she had. I’m afraid Donoghue’s Blanche just did not convince as somebody who would do that. ( )

This story just went on and on! I was speed reading this book just to get to the end............... ( )

Too long, too much of Blanche's thoughts dragging the story. Also no focus. The setting is the smallpox epidemic ravaging California and the discrimination of Chinese immigrants, with subplots (or main plot?) about Jenny's murder, Blanche's suspicions about who the killers are, and Blanche's reconciliation with her son whom she entrusted to an infant farm with her belatedly discovering how poor the care is. The only thing interesting about the book is the setting that the story took place in. ( )

Really good. Engaging two-strand plot structure, great characters. ( )

A queer historical novel set in 1876 San Francisco about a burlesque dancer whose baby is taken from her and a woman who wears men’s clothes at a time when this was an arrestable offense. Then there’s a murder. This was a little quieter than some of Emma Donoghue’s other books and when I was done I was comparing it unfavorably in my head to my favorite of hers, Life Mask. But the story stuck with me and I keep thinking about it, so I’m realizing this book was actually pretty great. ( )

The story is told in alternating chapters. We have the near past, which is right before a major event and then we have the period right after the event happens. I imagine they are creeping closer and closer to combining. ETA: they never did combine. And I started daydreaming of buying a paperback and separating the chapters and putting them in chronological order.

As with THE WONDER we get a fictional historical story based on real people. And as with THE WONDER, I wasn't in love with the story but trusted the author to tell a good tale. I wasn't disappointed.

Such low ratings which is sad because I don't think the book deserves that at all. I may not recommend it to everyone but I learned so much about the time period and I have come to trust Emma Donoghue so will always read her books.

Listened on audio, loved the narrator, she has such range. She sang, she did different accents. I'm not sure I would have enjoyed the book quite as much without her.

CW: content warnings: child neglect, threat of rape
-------------------

NPR interview with author regarding this story: https://www.npr.org/2014/04/03/298362249/a-song-of-frogs-motherhood-and-murder-i.... ( )

This was advertised as a book about life in San Francisco for a French burlesque dancer (who was really a prostitute) coupled with a murder mystery. The characters were unpleasant. It was basically the story of a burlesque dancer engaging in all kinds of sex with both men and women--tedious and boring. I listened to the audio book and the reading, especially the part of Jenny, was horrific. I can't find anything redeeming about this book. A waste of my time. The title refers to a derogatory word for "French." 422 pages ( )

False advertising. Based on the author's interviews and the reviews, I thought Frog Music was about the life and death of Jenny Bonnet, a cross-dressing frog catcher in 1870s San Francisco. Instead, it is about Blanche, a boring prostitute who makes some bad choices because she is obsessed with her boring maquereau and their boring and annoying baby.

I should've given up thirty pages in, but I loved Slammerkin and I kept hoping one of the flashbacks would develop Jenny's story, but it never happened. More of her character comes through in the historical notes at the end than in the actual novel.

Star One is for old-timey prostitutes
Star Two is for some nice scenery ( )

During the Summer of 1876 in San Francisco, Burlesque Dancer Blanche meets a woman who will forever change her life: Jenny Bonnet. The two women's friendship blossoms as Blanche slowly realizes that she is not as happy with her life as she first tells the reader she is. The two share a brief romance, which ends in tragedy. The historical setting and drama are sure to capture the reader, and fans of history and feminism will be enchanted with the material for literature analysis. ( )

This is one of the worst historical novels I have read. It features abuse of various kinds including sexual, physical and child neglect and abuse quite graphically. There are no characters that one would find sympathetic or interesting.

I stopped reading it after 40%, the story wasn't interesting enough and went too slow

This book was ugly and awful. I hated all the characters. ( )

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12549011

Really an odd one! But I should have expected something out of the ordinary from this author.

Donoghue took what she had learned about a historical incident and fleshed it out into a story, changing some things and adding others. The incident was the killing of a young woman in San Francisco in 1876 by a bullet shot through a window. The woman was Jenny Bonnet (various spellings in historical data) and she had an interesting history, according to newspaper and other accounts.

Jenny had made a friend, Blanche Beunon, not long before her murder. In fact it is Blanche's live-in lover who may have done the deed. Certainly Blanche thinks so. In her zeal to confront him and bring him to justice Blanche faces the loss of much of her former life. Working as French burlesque dancer, she has supported herself and her lover for quite some time, and up until Jenny's murder has been nearly blind to the man's less-desirable traits.

In this story we hear about Jenny's propensity to wear pants, for which she has been arrested, and her way of making a living: selling frogs she catches. We learn about Jenny's past - or do we? - and her habit of singing (many songs are in the book). She shapes up to be an interesting person whom we get to know only after she's dead.

I found it a little confusing to get into initially but soon figured out how the story jumps around and was absorbed to the end. Of course I had to read about Donoghue's research and look into the songs listed at the end as well. ( )

Once I got used to the back and forth through past and present, I enjoyed the book. It was not what I expected, but it was intriguing. Blanche is the main character, who arrived from France in San Francisco with her man Arthur and his partner from the circus Ernest. Blanche dances in a burlesque hall and is also a courtesan who supports herself and both men. She has had a baby who is living on a "farm" being nursed and raised. Blanche meets a very strange young woman, Jenny, who dresses as a man, rides a high wheeler around, has not home and catches frogs for a living. Blanche begins to question her choices after making her first friend and sets in motion a series of events. The book is historically accurate and for an unlikeable character, I really liked Blanche at the end of this book. ( )

"Care to receive a bullet through your brains" ,Jenny quipped to St.Clair, "or have you got plans for this evening?"

First things first.I feel the need to say from the start that I loved this book.I am an avid reader of everything that is raw and gritty and realistic,especially when it comes to Historical Fiction.However, I know that this novel isn't for everyone.If one is offended by the issue of prostitution,of abuse and if (very few) graphic sex scenes may disturb you, then this isn't a suitable read for you.If you consider these themes provocative, there are plenty of historical mysteries that will suit your tastes.But if you enjoy a combination of mystery and a brave glance to the extent a woman may act to save herself and try to correct the mistakes she has committed, if you look for a faithful representation of the USA during the 1870s, then give Frog Music a try.

The time is 1876, the place is San Francisco.Blanche, a French young woman, is a famous burlesque dancer and an occasional night butterfly for the upper society.Following her from Paris, we have Arthur, her dandee paramour and overall gigantic leech and Ernest who is Arthur's lackey,companion in just about everything and second leech in command.Oddly enough (or maybe not...) life seems agreeable to these three Bohemians until Blanche meets Jenny,a young woman who dresses herself in men's attire and catches frogs for a living.It is precisely this encounter that causes Blanche to rethink and reevaluate her life as it is.The sad thing is that it takes a murder for her to wake up,but who's the victim and who's the perpetrator?This is something you'll have to discover yourselves,waiting until the final chapter.The depiction of the setting and the era is marvellous.Do not expect poetic language.It is not this kind of story.There is an afterword by Donoghue in which she explains the basis of her story,the actual events that inspired the novel and the way she shaped them to fit her vision.

This book is vastly different from Room or The Wonder. Donoghue structures her mystery on a true crime case that remains unsolved and offers her own version of the events.I found this work just wonderful.Not only the mystery itself -which is guaranteed to have you guessing, then altering your opinion and then guessing again- but the way she inserts the themes of motherhood and independence in the centre of the story.Besides waiting anxiously for an explanation of the crime,I wanted to see how Blanche's fate would turn out.I won't hide the fact that I cared more for her than for the discovery of the guilty party and the motive.

So motherhood and independence.What constitutes a "suitable" mother?To what extent would a woman go to claim and protect her child? And independence.Blanche believes she is free just because she earns her living by herself -regardless of the manner in which she gains the daily bread- but cannot see the leeches drinking her blood before it's too late.Jenny dares to go against the "rules" of society and is punished for that.The bottom line is that to gain independence, you'll have to sacrifice a part of yourself.It's an eternal battle where strength and honesty are required and even then it may not be enough.

Donoghue creates powerful,often disturbing, stories and populates them with characters that may not be likeable or their actions may come in direct contrast with some of our principles, but they attract our attention.It doesn't matter whether we love or hate them.Blanche gathers a lot of hatred,judging from some of the reviews I've read.I can understand why,but I disagree utterly and completely (yeah for emphatic adverbs...)She may not be sympathetic per se, she may not be as clever as we'd like to see her, but I found her to be a realistic character and truthful to the era depicted.She reaches a point when she realises the futility of her way of living and tries to salvage what is good in her.Why doesn't she deserve a second chance?

*rant warning*

I'll tell you why.Because there are still some people who are afraid of a woman who's comfortable with her sexuality.And these people belong to both sexes.They utter the word "promiscuity" -which belongs to a bygone era- and retain a "holier-than-thou" attitude,pointing the finger.We are readers, we're supposed to be open-minded and accepting.Judging a character within the historical context and not by today's standards is a major "rule" in Historical Fiction,and yet somehow,there is a minority (thank God) who "seems" to forget this.Same goes with the critique on Jenny's character who is plainly brilliant and sassy and excellent.Well,of course, she needs to create a persona to live.This is the 19th century, any woman wearing trousers was arrested and put in prison.

This came out longer than expected,but there were some things I felt the need to state.As I said in the beginning, this book isn't for everyone.I can't recommend it to all readers because it isn't suitable to all.However, it should be ideal to brave souls who don't shy away from challenging, disturbing books that make us feel uncomfortable and yet remain Literature in the true meaning of the word.Think of it as a mix of Dickens, The Crimson Petal and the White and the brilliant TV series Ripper Street.Just a bit more gritty and dirty and more powerful... ( )

Wow! What a wild ride of a book. Written with all the bawdy bluster and showmanship of life in San Francisco after the gold rush, this story takes place over just a couple of weeks in the life of a former Parisian Circus performer, her lover and a woman she literally runs into on the street and the transformations of these characters is whirlwind. At the same time the author makes the two main characters, Blanche and Jenny so alive, sympathetic and believable that you find yourself living their lives along side them. Part murder mystery, part story of redemption, part scandalous news story, this book will make you wish you didn't have to get up to even go to the bathroom. ( )

DNF, not for me

I wish I could give this 4.5 stars, because it was that good. It was quite different from "Room," and yet, by the end, I could see similarities. That's all I will say because I don't want to spoil anything. It was set on the West Coast, post Civil War, and it's a woman's story. She's not a society woman by any stretch of the imagination, and as the events in her life overtake her, she adapts, and ultimately, becomes who she should have been all along. I will continue to read Donoghue because she knows how to tell a story. ( )

This was really grim. Set in San Francisco in the 1876, it fictionalizes an unsolved murder of a young unconventional woman, Jenny Bonnet who wears man's clothing and makes a living by catching frogs. The center of the story is Blanche Beunon, a French "dancer" and prostitute who followed her man, Arthur, from France after he was no longer to perform as a trapeze artist. Blanche thinks she is in love with Arthur, who also has a protege, Ernest Girard, who worships Arthur. Blanche works as a dancer is a brothel but also as a prostitute; she has been able to obtain enough funds to purchase the building where she lives and rents rooms to others.

Blanche has given birth to a son, who has been "farmed" out by the madam. Blanche thinks that all is well until she has a chance meeting with Jenny who makes her begin to question the safety of P'tit, her son. Once she finds the horrible conditions he is confined to, she rescues him which puts all of her life in disorder. P'tit is malnourished and almost unresponsive. The depictions of the baby "farm" are difficult to read.

Jenny and Blanche become friends of sorts before Jenny is murdered by a shot in the window where they are staying. The plot complicates as Blanche believes that Arthur is the murderer.

The conditions and lives of all the characters are depressing. Although one wants Blanche to gain her son back and get on with her life, she constantly makes some bad decisions.

The story probably would have been better without some of the over-the-top deprivation. The story does include many snippets of songs from the era. ( )

About a third of the way through and I'm just not into it.

Update: Just shy of half way through and it's due back at the library. No loss, because I was bored. Completely bored. Didn't like any of the characters, didn't care who shot Jenny, what happened to the baby, what would happen to Blanche. Nothing in it intrigued me. It's like the second scene, where Blanche meets Jenny, was written during a different time than the rest of the story. That scene had potential, but then the book went dull. Too much dribble. It just seemed like endless character development, except the characters were already fully identified and weren't changing much. Too little plot movement. Kind of like a soap opera. ( )

San Francisco, summer of 1876: record-breaking heat and a smallpox epidemic have the inhabitants of the city on edge. Blanche Beunon, a French dove, is happy with her life as a burlesque dancer until she bumps into a mysterious stranger, Jenny Bonnet, who turns her world upside down in just a few short weeks. When Jenny, Blanche's only friend, is shot dead, Blanche must struggle to make sense of the events that have torn her world apart, while she tries to catch Jenny's killer before she too loses her life. Based on a real 1870s unsolved murder, Emma Donoghue's vivid writing pulls the reader into Blanche's world as she struggles to catch a killer, save her baby, and survive as her world falls apart around her.

Bettina P. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.

( )

Frog Music is not a slow-paced and measured novel. It's set in San Francisco in 1875 during a heat wave and a smallpox epidemic and it begins with murder. Then it really gets going, featuring former circus performers, burlesque dancers, a cross-dressing woman riding a penny-farthing, French lullabies, a murder investigation, mob riots, and a missing baby. It's not a question of what happens on the next page, but how many things will happen.

Emma Donoghue's historical novels are scrupulously researched, and Frog Music is no exception. But it wears it's research lightly, so that the sure-footed mastery Donoghue has of the time and place enhance the story she's telling. I found this novel to be a great deal of fun. ( )

Stopped reading after 55 pages. Slow-moving story and found I didn't particularly like many of the characters. Maybe I should have read on, but life's too short! ( )