In this riveting narrative nonfiction, Catherine Prendergast pieces together the lives of Nora May French and Carrie Sterling, two women at the center of Bohemian poet George Sterling’s gallingly imprudent life. Right from the get-go, you know that all three meet their respective ends by their own hand via cyanide. What you don’t know is the salacious story of their messy entanglement. 

The Sterlings were some of the OG influencers, hired to lure other artsy types out to the fledgling colony of Carmel-by-the-Sea. George was infamous and deeply entrenched in the literary circles of the Gilded Age, nicknamed “King of Bohemia.” He was a notorious philanderer & his long-suffering wife Carrie was made to play host in this new (and fairly rudimentary) place while George drank heavily and flirted with every beautiful woman in sight. 

Prendergast’s book is a master class in research. Throughout, she sporadically reflects on the misogynist injustice imbedded even in seemingly innocuous things like archival structure. Each woman — and Nora May particularly — was exceptional on their own, but their histories were intentionally (and in some cases maliciously) folded into into the records of the era’s famous men. The methodic persistence required to compile such a complete and compelling account is truly noteworthy.  

The first half is a bit dense, mapping out a dense array of relationships that requires discipline to keep track of. But the second half is a serious page-turner, especially after a midpoint big reveal.

Note: this book is fascinating but it’s also pretty bleak, even verging on macabre, not by any fault of Prendergast but due to the nature of the story. Please pay attention to the content warnings.