Savage Girl

by Jean Zimmerman

A riveting tale from the author of The Orphanmaster about a wild girl from Nevada who lands in Manhattan’s Gilded Age society

Jean Zimmerman’s new novel tells of the dramatic events that transpire when an alluring, blazingly smart eighteen-year-old girl named Bronwyn, reputedly raised by wolves in the wilds of Nevada, is adopted in 1875 by the Delegates, an outlandishly wealthy Manhattan couple, and taken back East to be civilized and introduced into high society.

Bronwyn hits the highly mannered world of Edith Wharton era Manhattan like a bomb. A series of suitors, both young and old, find her irresistible, but the willful girl’s illicit lovers begin to turn up murdered.

Zimmerman’s tale is narrated by the Delegate’s son, a Harvard anatomy student. The tormented, self-dramatizing Hugo Delegate speaks from a prison cell where he is prepared to take the fall for his beloved Savage Girl. This narrative—a love story and a mystery with a powerful sense of fable—is his confession.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Fiction, Historical, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, New York

402 pages, Hardcover

First published March 6, 2014

About the author

Throughout her writing career Jean Zimmerman has published both nonfiction and fictional works that center around the changing role of women in America.

In Tailspin (Doubleday, 1995) she wrote about intrepid Navy fighter pilot Kara Hultgreen. Ballsy soccer players were the subject of Raising Our Athletic Daughters (Doubleday, 1998, with Gil Reavill). She covered heroic female homemakers in Made From Scratch (Free Press, 2003). The Women of the House (Harcourt, 2006) allowed Zimmerman to portray New Amsterdam fur trader extraordinaire Margaret Hardenbroeck. She brought larger-than-life beauty Edith Minturn out of obscurity in Love, Fiercely (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012). She also created intrepid fictional heroines from earlier eras in The Orphanmaster (Viking, 2012) and Savage Girl (Viking, 2014).

To promote her books Zimmerman has appeared on “The Today Show,” NBC; “Good Morning America,” ABC; “CBS Evening News With Dan Rather”; “Talk of the Nation,” National Public Radio; “The Diane Rehm Show,” National Public Radio; “New York & Company With Leonard Lopate,” WNYC; “To the Best of our Knowledge,” Wisconsin Public Radio and others. She also spoken before audiences at historic sites, libraries, museums, book clubs and other venues.

An honors graduate of Barnard College, Zimmerman earned an MFA in writing from the Columbia University School of the Arts and published her poetry widely in literary magazines. Her awards and prizes include an Academy of American Poets Prize in poetry, 1985; a New York Foundation for the Arts grant in poetry, 1986; Books for a Better Life Award, finalist, 1998, for Raising Our Athletic Daughters; Washington Irving Book Selection of The Women of the House; Washington Irving Book Selection of The Orphanmaster; Westchester Library Association prize, 2007, for The Women of the House; Original Voices Selection, Borders, 2006 for The Women of the House.

She lives with her family in Westchester County, New York. Zimmerman’s blog, Blog Cabin, can be found at jeanzimmerman.com.

Reviews

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a dilemma with this novel. The writing is excellent and the story engaging. Zimmerman brings this period to vivid life, from the man-tainted wastelands of Virginia City, Nevada to the false glitter of Gilded Age New York City. The characters aren't very sympathetic, honestly, and the longer the story went on, the more I disliked them. However, Zimmerman kept me guessing until the end.

Overall rating: 3.5/5.0 stars.

Reviewed for Affaire de Coeur Magazine in the March 2014 issue. http://affairedecoeur.com.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

The BEST Historical Fiction I’ve read in a very long time, rich and rewarding. (I will write too much, here, but no big spoilers.) The Gilded Age years 1875-1876 come vividly alive as Hugo Delegate, the (fictitious) troubled, well-educated son of an outrageously wealthy Manhattan family tells the story to his lawyers; it’s an intriguing mystery centered on a (fictitious) wild girl, found in a side-show act in Virginia City, Nevada, the rowdy silver-rush town. Self-sufficient, smart, and determinedly independent, she remembers that her name from her early childhood was Bronwyn, and she is transformed into the brilliant star of the next debutante season in NYC. But whenever she smiles at a man, whether he’s a tuxedoed young waiter at Chicago’s Palmer House or a gypsy dancer in Central Park or a young member of society, the man turns up dead soon after, viciously murdered and mutilated. Is Bronwyn, in fact, a perverted, two-faced killer?

Everything is knitted into a solid fabric of historically verifiable details: the elaborate twelve-car private train (the consist that transports the family between Nevada and NY) and the Upper East Side mansion across the street from Central Park, the horse-mucked streets of the city, the father’s financial schemes, the amusements, the food, the high-fashion French clothes, the bustled dresses, the cross-dressing, the debate pitting Nature against Nurture, the use of opium, the fascination with anatomy, the influence of the Comanches, Harvard and the Henry James family in Boston, the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia with the torch of the Statue of Liberty... these are not token morsels of fact, scattered here and there, but a solid historical fabric that wraps around the story and helps to tell it.

Students of ancient fable will be reminded not only of Pygmalion but also, surprisingly, of Romulus and Remus; anthropologists will tell other stories of feral children; fans of author Jean Auel’s series, Earth’s Children, will recall Ayala’s cave lion; students of the American West will remember the Comanches' superior horsemanship, the presence of Chinese, and the progress of the new railroad across the county; students of the economy will recognize the ups and downs of the markets in the Gilded Age; fans of language will enjoy the vocabulary and the pleasant style of the writing, sometimes suitably formal and other times breezily succinct.

This author has studied New York City, having lived there most of her life, most recently in a log cabin not far north of the city. From New Amsterdam to The Gilded Age to Current Happenings which she narrates in an on-line blog (jeanzimmerman.com), she knows her stuff; I’m convinced. She’s fond of the macabre, too; think Edward Scissorhands, and think of a jar full of... I won’t say what. (In her first fiction, The Orphanmaster, it was cannibalism.) Anyway, though I shivered at times as I read Savage Girl, I could PICTURE what was happening, and I could HEAR the lines as I read; I think any reader will watch breathlessly as the scenes of Savage Girl unfold almost cinematically, and I think any reader will listen easily to this well-constructed narrative.

[Sarah Mac · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first rule with men: Put no faith in their words. Their words are only the wrappings of the gift, which must be torn away to reveal the truth. Look instead to their unspoken selves, secrets they believe they dissemble but which are in reality displayed for all to see.


This was a strange, slow, & (ultimately) satisfying read, a thoughtful mix of pastiche throwback & modernized revision. The content is a blend of THE ALIENIST, Clare Clark’s NATURE OF MONSTERS, D.J. Taylor’s KEPT, & Edith Wharton, plus a bit of sensational Victorian pulp sprinkled in. But while it incorporates what is excellent reading in those books☝🏻, it also carries traits that will turn off many readers—unreliable narration, subtle humor, cringey outdated philosophy, racism/sexism, & (perhaps the worst crime nowadays?) a very slow plot with thick, erudite prose. This book will not be hurried—it moves steadily, but the pace is on par with a Gorn running the Boston Marathon. He’ll cross that finish line, yes, but he’ll get there when he gets there, & not before ripping off the heads of anyone who heckles him.

…OG Star Trek, y’all. It can be applied to any situation. 👽

Gorn metaphor aside, I’m not going to attempt a plot summary; it would only sound ludicrous & give a false impression of Magical Realism. It is, however, a surreal & improbable story, though it didn’t strike me as improbable whilst reading, so that’s a credit to the author. *shrug* And while there are frustrating + infuriating elements inherent to this period (Gilded Age USA) that contemp readers will be glad to have left behind, it also feels uncomfortably applicable to modern times—because some problems never go away. But, again, this is a credit to the author; despite the oblique commentary I never felt like I was being bludgeoned over the head with social issues. You’re supposed to have mixed feelings about Hugo—that’s the point of an unreliable narrator. 🙄 But you’re also supposed to watch him grow & become a mature human who lives alongside the Savage Girl & all she represents. (It should be noted that Savage Girl never narrates for herself except through Hugo’s recounting of her words, which may or may not be truthful…all of which is fodder for a lengthy analytical essay wading into the weeds of literary technique & expression, but I digress.)

Anyhoo. Despite the slower chapters this is an excellent read—def one of the best I’ve picked up in my long-term 2024 Book Slump, so I’m awarding a full 5 stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Katiana Uyemura · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was quite confuzzling. Despite an initial interesting premise (wild child taken in by rich family to prove that nurture is superior to nature) I felt like the book was trying to settle in the audience the entire time. The character development left much to be desired. For example, the girl was able to learn English incredibly quickly, the narrator was constantly hanging out in brothels etc. etc. but was in love with the girl, and the narrator's friend, Bev, seems like a pretty nice guy, even helping Bronwyn design a new wardrobe, until bang it turns out he raped the narrator's ex-fiancé? Resulting in her eventual death due to an abortion? What?
Really, the only character I liked at all was Nicky, who seemed a much better fit for Bronwyn despite being twelve or so. Of course, he got basically no screen time, the most character development was done on the Oriental (who conveniently carries a shoto on her person that she handy dandily uses to kill a guy trying to kill Bronwyn) and the berdache, who, well honestly I'm not even sure why he needed to be in the story at all. Seriously.
The love story itself was mainly about how awesome Bronwyn was and how insane Hugo was both before and while being in love with her (can't even tell if he's the murderer, is constantly sick probably from an STD from all those prostitutes, faints quite often, and is creepily obsessed with knives and the human body). Here, in the epilogue, where they finally end up together, is some of their dialogue.

Hugo: Then how did you know Charlie wouldn't go for me?
Bronwyn: Well, that I didn't know, but I figured at least one of you two would survive, Delegate or Flenniken, so either way I'd have a husband.

FYI, Charlie is a man eating Tigon from India. Don't these romantic words send shivers down your spine?

Lastly, at the resolution of this mystery, you find out who's been murdering and mutilating all these guys and turns out it's not Bronwyn, or Hugo, but.......some random character you're supposed to remember from the beginning of the book who was in about ten pages! Wow, isn't that satisfying?
So really, the only reason this book isn't a one is because it did pull me in enough that I just kept reading in the hopes that it would get better, and it never did, but I did read the book. So hooray for that.

[C.W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The premise of Jean Zimmerman's "Savage Girl" is gripping: What would happen if a wealthy couple with everything they could possibly imagine came across a so-called "feral child" in a tawdry Nevada sideshow and decides to bring her back to New York and convert her into a society belle? With shades of Pygmalion crossed with the darker hue of Edith Wharton, "Savage Girl" posits this theory and adds another layer: What if all the men who show an erotic interest in the girl start to turn up dead and the disturbed son of the wealthy couple begins to suspect the girl may be a brutal killer, even as he sees disturbing signs within himself that he might be to blame?

There is no question that Ms Zimmerman is a masterful writer; her prose is beautiful and she brilliantly captures the unreliable voice of the couple's son, Hugo Delegate, who narrates the story. Hugo is both repelled and fascinated by Bronwyn, the "savage girl," whose past is slowly revealed as Hugo's suspicions and attraction to her deepen. The world of Gilded Age New York also comes to vivid, detailed life; we feel the hypocrisy and emphasis on lineage and social position as the curiosity-obsessed Delegates seek to put one over on their peers by turning Bronwyn into something she is not. Bronwyn fascinates in her contradictions - alluring yet remote, with a tendency to slip out after-hours to roam the streets, wearing a glove fitted with claws. However, her distance from the narrative voice and Hugo's preoccupation with a variety of other concerns dampen the plot's thrust, as he's distracted both by his own torment and his family's foibles. At times, there simply is too much story in this heady brew, diluting the lethal mystery at its heart.

Nevertheless, the experience of reading it turns compulsive, as the underside of the Gilded Age is torn asunder by the introduction of the wild within us all - a metaphor for how we seek to curb our baser instincts, forcing our repressions to find other, more unsavory ways to erupt. Hugo's confession turns chilling as we realize how far his family has gone and the terrible price exacted of them, while Bronwyn's own secrets lead to an excellent denouement. In the end, we find ourselves questioning: Who is truly the savage here?

[Lisa Senauke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historic detail, horrific acts of violence, intriguing romance, and so well written! What more could you want?

[Nafiza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Savage Girl tells the story of Hugo Delegate who, blinded with the love for the titular character, confesses to a series of murders he may or may not have committed. The novel is told in flashback as Hugo relates the story of the savage girl to his lawyers whilst in prison awaiting trial for murders he may or may not have committed. The Delegates are old money, the aristocrats of New York, envied for their wealth and lineage. Freddy and Anna-Marie, Hugo’s parents, have the wealthy penchant of taking in people and taking up causes that catch their attention and engage their interests. Savage Girl is one such person. She is a substitute daughter for Anna-Marie whose own died in infancy and for Freddy, she’s a way to definitively prove the nature versus nature debate. So they spring the savage girl from her captors who use her as a spectacle with which to rake in money from voyeurs and welcome her into the fold of their family. Hugo, however, finds himself kept at a distance from his new sister who is followed by a series of murders – in fact, every man she looks at or interacts with in a platonic manner is found dead and literally emasculated.

This novel is epic in scope and wondrously researched. The writing is beautiful and perhaps the one true strength of the story. The sentences are woven with such precision and delicacy that reading them out is a pleasure. As for the characterization, the novel is limited in what it perceives and narrates due to the first person point of view and Hugo is an unreliable narrator but almost overly so. The reader is led in turns to suspect Hugo or Bronwyn (the savage) as the true murderer but if the reader is familiar with these types of novels, the reader will be well aware that these are merely red herrings and the true story lies in the hints sprinkled throughout the narrative. The novel gives a glimpse of high society in the early days of New York and I loved the casual mention of the statue of liberty, then in pieces, that Hugo makes.

The first half of the novel is strong if slow and as the story gained momentum, I readied myself for something stunning. I expected the denouement to leave me swooning but alas, that was not to be. The problem here is that there is already a distance between the reader and Hugo because well, he may be the murderer and he’s not easy to sympathize with, at least not for me. Then Bronwyn, as the savage girl has a name, is touted by Hugo as universally irresistible and I could not fathom her attraction. She is beautiful, yes, as Hugo once and again reiterates but he also states that she has a magnetic appeal and everyone seems to love her but I don’t understand or I was not able to see that elusive quality of hers that bewitched everyone. From what Hugo narrates and what I could glean from the story was that she was remarkably complex, rather cold and a blank slate. That is all.

The climax when it came was still puzzling and there is a love story but that too left me wondering. I was not convinced of the love that everyone spoke about. And in fact, I am still puzzled. It would be interesting to do a feminist reading of this piece and chart the savage girl’s growth though I fear it might be a bit difficult to do as the novel isn’t focalized on her. We see her through the lens of patriarchy and she’s often objectified as a sexual object. Though Zimmerman writes Bronwyn’s attempts to distinguish herself from other ladies who are born into and accept willingly their position as women, expressing gender as defined by high society, ultimately Bronwyn does act in ways that point towards her induction into the patriarchal society she appears to rebuff initially. When all is said and done, I did enjoy the glimpse of the train, the luxury and lifestyles of the rich and famous. I will definitely look up this author’s other titles just to see if I like them better than this one because as I said, the writing is beautiful.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jean Zimmerman's "Savage Girl" has so much going for it, right from the get-go:
1) It's set in New York City during the Gilded Age, my absolute favorite setting for novels in NYC.
2) The cover art is FIERECE. I mean look at Savage Girl.
3) Our narrator is delightfully unreliable, incredibly wealthy, and has a family that can only be kindly described as eccentric.

Weighing in at a solid 400+ pages, Savage Girl is a little slow to start, but soon you'll be flying through it. From the silver mines of the west, to the debutante dance halls of the east, what sounds like a re-telling of the “Pygmalion” story quickly turns into a fast-paced mystery. While on a cross-country trip with his “old money” family, Hugo Delegate, Harvard student and current drop out, encounters Savage Girl—a teenaged girl, “raised by wolves” and barely domesticated. The Delegate Family, with intentions that cannot necessarily be described as selfless, bring Savage Girl into their world of luxury and excess. But far from being the docile pet that they expect, it soon becomes clear that Savage Girl, whose name is Bronwyn, actually may have her own agenda. In addition, it appears she seems to leave a trail of bodies wherever she goes… As Hugo finds himself becoming more involved, dare I say, obsessed, with his “sister” Bronwyn, it also becomes clear that he may also not be what he seems.

The highlight of this novel has to be Zimmerman’s characters. They are beautifully fleshed out and vividly fill the pages. Hugo is self-interested, a little bit whiny, and makes for a fun narrator as the reader is never quite sure what to believe. Bronwyn is surprising, strong, and quite believable, despite her outlandish origin story.

My only complaint is that I felt like the ending was a bit rushed- we spend roughly 350 pages on a wonderful adventure, only to have everything be wrapped up and tied with a bow in the last 50. Don’t get me wrong- the ending is satisfying, but it did not feel like it had the same depth and richness as the rest of the novel. I’m sure people will be of divided opinion re: the epilogue, and I’m eager to hear the discussion.

Disclaimer: I received an advance copy of this book via the publisher for review. This review was also posted on our blog: bookbirdblog.com

[Alisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Savage Girl has obviously been very well researched, and I really wanted to enjoy the book as it intrigued me. The book to me was very long winded. There was so much detail filling the story that it interrupted the narrative in a very bad way. There where so many asides, and so much pointless information that I found myself bored, struggling to carry on reading and annoyed.

Don't get me wrong, the story was fantastically researched and was interesting, as well as intriguing. But I found the pace slow and it was a hard slog to read. I was kept guessing until the end, and the world was brought to life for me, but the pure amount of over detail ruined the book for me.

Then we have the characters. The characters weren't very....sympathetic. They came across as very inhuman to me. As the story went on I disliked them more and more, and found myself having the book ruined for me from another angle. I couldn't connect with either of the two main characters, and I had no emotional attachment to either. They seemed detached almost, and I just couldn't find myself caring about them all that much.

The flow of the book, along with the pace, is another bad mark against it. We'd have it slow to start, then alot of hype around the first murder, then back to the story being calm and nothing really happening for quite a while before the next murder. Zimmerman is obviously a skilled writer, her plot twists and ability to keep you guessing until the end where fantastic, but there where so many things that let the book down.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes when I see a review and the person starts with, "I received this book in exchange for an unbiased review and," then the reviewer froths at the mouth at how wonderful it was, I have to giggle. It doesn't sound so unbiased anymore. At any rate, I did receive this book through First Reads, and I really, truly did enjoy it. The historical context is fascinating, I never knew a thing about private trains before this, just to give an example. This period of time is also very interesting overall, between the end of the Civil War and beginning of WW1 seems to have been such a time of exciting growth and change in the U.S. I am nearly embarrassed to admit that I never did figure out the mystery, I must be in a slump, but that only made it better. The book was lengthy, but I was never bored. Very entertaining. I was sure that I did not care to read The Orphanmaster, but now I will have to give it another look.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover of this book caught my eye and had me wonder about the girl on the front cover. Who is she? Why don't we get to see her face? What the heck is up with that background?

The novel begins with Harvard anatomist, Hugh Delegate, sitting in a jail cell waiting for his lawyers. Hugh claims that he is responsible for the recent brutal murders that have taken place. Hugh will spend the next 48hours( or 300+ pages) retelling his rich families task to try and tame a wild and feral girl. It is a story of secrets and passionate desire and some very bizarre happenings.



Goodreads review published 26/09/14

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised to find myself loving this book from the start, since the author's previous book had been so jolty. The writing has improved amazingly! This book still has a few issues - the central character is distant and unknown throughout, not merely enigmatic; the narrator's chemistry with her never comes to life; and the end of the plot is slapped on out of nowhere, rather unsatisfyingly. Yet I loved this book! I found it captivating, with notes of the Gatsby myth and a Helprin-like deification of Manhattan alongside the Poe-ish gore.

[Laura Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Picked up because I was drawn to the cover. 1875 Virgina City. A very rich family from the east "adopts" a wild girl, supposedly raised by Indians. Can they convert her to a successful debutante? Great mystery and exciting events. Great writing.

[Leila · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am beyond impressed with this book. When historical fiction is good, it is perhaps my favorite genre; when it is bad I will not even waste time reading it. The same goes for so-called mysteries which sadly, seem mostly pumped out of Thomas Kinkade schools of writing now. Give me a literate (I pride myself on my vocabulary & I had to look up several words I wasn't certain of--knew what they meant in context of the book but wanted more precise definitions for my own benefit) historically steeped semi Gothic novel and I am pleased as punch. This novel combines the romantic longing of Edith Wharton, attention to detail of perhaps the most high brow Regency romance with all the costume, tableau, pomp & circumstance of the late Victorian period, the psychology and wit of Henry James, the down and dirty horror of Poe seamlessly, elegantly, and with a thoroughly modern accessibility. The author pays tribute to factual details, fads, and issues of the time without EVER becoming bogged down by irrelevant detail. Every note is executed perfectly--and serves to advance both the plot & the reader's understanding of the characters. AND THE CHARACTERS...I loved them all--flawed as they all were. The mystery is central yet almost becomes of little import as you read on because frankly, you won't necessarily care whodunit. Endings are often where writers go awry; and this one tidily winds up. I don't have much criticism, I am satisfied with the ending & don't want to ruin it for anyone else here. The story follows the protagonist Hugo Delegate, a nervous and possibly psychotic narrator who begins the book being arrested for his "best" friend's murder and having to spill his tale to two shady lawyers in the jail. (Sidenote-the lawyers themselves are fantastic, Dickensian characters worthy of their own novel). The reader (and the lawyers who cleverly serve as both a plot device and proxy for the reader) is uncertain whether young Hugo can be relied upon in his narrative of recent events, primarily because he is known to suffer various nervous disorders and was found at the the scene of the crime in hard to explain circumstances. Hugo is fortunate to come from an extremely wealthy and privileged family, scions of elite upper 10% New York at a time when class structure was perhaps more impervious to outsiders. His family consists of multiple characters who are richly and finely drawn; but the story centers on their adoption from the wild west of a supposed feral girl, the wild child of the Washoe when they make a visit to Virginia City to oversee their silver mining interests and make a transcontinental trip on the new railroad. They endeavor to spirit the girl from her freak show handlers and Pygmalion style bring her to New York whereupon they will put nature v nurture to the test in a living experiment. Can the girl be taught the manners and attitudes necessary to make her debut in New York City's glittering social scene? There is just one kink- ever since the family becomes aware of her, men in their surround keep turning up dead, mutilated in gristly fashion. We are unsure if the savage girl is killing them or is it dear, afflicted, neurotic Hugo with his med school background, passion for vivisection, keen interest in anatomical drawing,and macabre collection of specimens locked away in a cupboard? He himself doesn't know. What a great book. Loved it.

[Sandie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the 1870's, the wealthy were godlike in their ability to do as they chose. This was the time of the Robber Barons, men like Rockefeller and Vanderbilt amassing legendary fortunes from natural resources. To those names, add the Delegates, rich beyond belief from their silver mine holdings. Fredrick Delegate, or Freddy as he preferred to be known, was the family patriarch. He had two sons, Hugo and Nicky.

When one is so wealthy, it is easy to become bored. Wealthy men often seek out the bizarre and uncommon. Thus it was with Freddy. His interests ran to human oddities, and the family retinue contained a Chinese woman who had been a concubine and a Native American transgender. But Freddy's real interest was in what was known as feral children; those humans said to be separated by tragedy from their families and raised by animals. While visiting their silver mines in Nevada, the family comes across a young woman known as Savage Girl. She is said to have been raised by wolves and is imprisoned in a sideshow, titillating the desires of men who came to her shows.

The Delegates rescue Savage Girl from the man who keeps her in the show making money from exhibiting her. Freddy and wife decide that this is the perfect project, turning this feral girl into a New York debutante and proving that nurture overcomes nature. As the weeks go by, it becomes clear that the girl was captured by Indians in a raid and lived with them for some time; she knows some Comanche language. Slowly she begins to learn English and tells them her name, Bronwyn. Hugo is fascinated and repelled in equal parts by Bronwyn. She is beautiful but there is an air of remoteness about her that keeps people distant. The mysteries surrounding her life seem impenetrable, making her more appealing. She has secrets that she doesn't share with anyone. Soon Hugo notices that gruesome murders seem to follow the family as they make their way back to New York. Are they connected to Bronwyn? Could she be the murderer?

Jean Zimmerman has written a historical fiction novel that pulls the reader in and gives them a view of the Gilded Age and the wealthy families that ruled the country. Along the way, the views of Darwin and the strict structures of society are explored. There is a love story, a crime story, there is something for everyone. This book is recommended for readers of historical fiction and for mystery lovers alike.

[The Lit Bitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel was gritty and unique. I really really enjoyed it. It was suspenseful and thrilling just a promised. One issue I did have with the novel though was the time frame.

The story took place over the course of a year. I had a hard time reconciling that Bronwyn went from wild child to refined lady in a year. I would have liked to have seen the timeline stretch a little longer so it could be believable.

I loved that Hugo was an unreliable narrator. I love books like that as they always set me on edge and make me question everything in the story. This was a thrilling device and it worked well in this story.

There was a lot to love historically in this book as well. The author provided two extremely contrasting historic cultures….the wild west and the elite Manhattan society. She does a fantastic job researching both historic perspectives and cultures.

The story did start a little slow for me, but after a few chapters it did start to pick up. I would have liked to have seen things starting earlier to get the audience engaged but it wasn’t overly excruciating.

This is a novel that will stay with you even after you finish reading it. Even when I couldn’t get to my reading for a day or two, I was constantly thinking about the book and what might happen next. For me that’s the mark of a tantalizingly good read!

See my full review here

[Bernice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this work of historical fiction that starts in Silver City, Nevada and continues in Gilded Age New York City. The narrator is Hugo Delegate, the eldest son of a wealthy New York family and an extremely unreliable witness. He is a Harvard anatomy student with an obsession with knives, a fondness for blood red and a history of mental instability. On a business trip to Nevada, the eccentric Delegate family encounters a girl purportedly raised by wolves and brings her back to New York to introduce her to society as part of a nature vs nurture experiment.

Hugo falls in love with the savage girl, who attracts men with ease. Unfortunately, dead bodies turn up everywhere the family goes. The book begins with Hugo confessing to a murder and the author keeps you guessing until the end about who is the real guilty party.

The book is well written and thoroughly researched. My only complaints are that the pace of the book is very slow and there is a little too much historical detail. I could have lived without the cross dressing cabaret and the descriptions of every frock the savage girl wore. Details like that just padded the story and slowed it down. However, in spite of my complaints I thought this was an intriguing story.

I won a free copy of this book.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in 1875, Savage Girl begins when the wealthy socialite Delegate family are on a tour of the American West, having travelled to Nevada by private train to visit family mining concerns.

The son, Hugo, a 22-year-old anatomy student at Harvard, who keeps taking time out from his studies due to undiagnosed mental health issues, visits a back alley sideshow attraction with his mother entitled ‘Savage Girl’, allegedly a wild, mute 18-year-old girl raised by wolves. It is a popular attraction, attracting many of the mining community and the Delegate family are interested in her, for much more than entertainment purposes.

The novel follows ‘Savage Girl’s’ progress, Hugo's (the 22-year-old anatomy student son) paranoia and reasoning within the context of Manhattan’s Gilded Age (late 1800’s) where only those who know the rules, befriend the right people and come from socially acceptable families will make it.

It is an intriguing story, wrapped around a puzzling, violent mystery containing a dark, barely legible heartbeat of early feminist activism and that nature versus nurture debate. As historical fiction goes, it has all the elements, pure, entertaining escapism.

My complete review at Word by Word here.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was so excited to read this book. From the description it should have been the type of book I love and savor and can not wait to get back to everyday. However, that just didn't happen. It's not that the writing or story was inherently bad it's simply that I didn't personally care for either too much. The author used such antiquated words and long run on and on and on and on , oh and on some more sentences that reading became a chore rather than a pleasant pastime. Also the story dragged in so many places I wanted to skim but I did resist that urge somehow. Although, I probably wouldn't have missed anything significant since there was so much added that was unneeded (the Berdache, narrator fascination with knives and I lost count of how many times the main character got sick , and that's only to name a few). After much debate I'm going to give the book 3 stars. I'm not sure why since I'm vacillating between that and as low as a two. I must be feeling generous and in a forgiving mindset today.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Savage Girl was a wonderful read. Each character is rich with idiosyncrasies, loveable and rich. Even the deviously evil and flawed characters have layers to their personalities causing the reader to turn them, over-and-over again in their mind detecting different hidden depths. Much like eating a delicious dish, which you allow to slowing melt on your tongue trying to decipher if indeed there is a hint of cinnamon. Savagery, love, cross-dressing, exotic, native, murderess, madness and the eccentric, Savage Girl doesn't disappoint the senses or the imagination. I never thought I would find an American-Historical-Fiction story so intriguing. This will definitely be a novel that I purchase and gift again-and-again. This murder mystery is a fantastic gothic style novel I highly recommend it.

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[Carole Knoles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having received an advance copy of "Savage Girl" from Viking, it saddens me not to be able to give the book a wholehearted endorsement. The author is obviously a skilled researcher and a talented wordsmith with a formidable vocabulary [why say field mouse when you can say field vole] but I don't think that these gifts always work to her advantage. I love detail filling out a story but not when it so severely interrupts the narrative. I found myself often irritated by frequent asides and minutiae. I really believe the novel has a good story and interesting characters but would be well served by a little strict editing.

[Clearview Library District · Rating 2 out of 5]

SO much going on here. A feral girl on parade to the public who gets rescued by a rich, eccentric family (who is exploiting who?) one of who is the narrator. He is neurotic and a tad whiny(around the age of the girl) who is introduced to his "new sister" and the fun begins. Grisly murders that involve castrating are strewn through out the book. I quickly eliminated the first two obvious suspect choices early on and then made myself plow through the rest of this overly long fantasy. Everything gets tied up too neatly in the end. The feral explanation was too much of a stretch and this story had so much Gothic potential too. Marsella

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hugo Delegate is the son of a wealthy, Gilded Age industrialist. He's an anatomy student at Harvard - gifted at dissection and anatomical drawings - but prone to bouts of "melancholia". On a trip out West, his parents adopt (buy) a "feral" child, a girl reputedly raised by wolves. They decide to turn Bronwyn into a proper debutante. Their experiment seems to be a rousing success - except that some men who venture too close to Bronwyn end up dead - horribly mutilated. Is Bronwyn's beauty and composure only a thin veneer over a savage killer? Could Hugo, with his skill with a scalpel and unrequited passion for his adopted "sister", somehow be involved?

[OLT · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps the main character of this period mystery for me is Gilded Age New York City, its streets, its buildings and architecture, its people, its fashions, its culture, its food, its economy. The author's descriptive abilities so good that she has you feeling that you are time traveling to right there.

The main story covers a period from June 1875 to June 1876. It begins in May of 1876, when our unreliable narrator, 22-year-old Hugo Delegate, who relates the tale to us in 1st person POV, is arrested for the brutal, gory murder of his erstwhile friend and fellow upper-class New Yorker, Bev Willets. From there Hugo, in revelations to his lawyers, takes us back to where many problems in the Delegate family's life began, in June of 1875, when the family, on a trip to the American West, make a stop in Virginia City, Nevada, and see a freak sideshow featuring "Savage Girl", a wild and mute young woman said to have been raised by wolves.

The Delegates are an extremely wealthy old-money New York family. Father Freddy is a bit of a collector and not just of things such as his collection of bullet-shot Bibles carried by soldiers in the Civil War. The family has a Chinese maid and a Zuni "man-woman" cross-dressing native from the Arizona desert, so what better addition than that of a feral girl to test out nature-vs-nurture theories on?

So Savage Girl is brought back to live with the family in Manhattan. She is groomed and clothed and her socialization and education is begun. Gradually she becomes more civilized and well-spoken. Father Freddy is excited to show her off at her New York debut. But grisly murders follow her around. Any man who shows too much interest in her turns up savagely murdered.

So she's still savage, right? But not so fast. We also have the problem of our unreliable narrator Hugo, who suffers from mental and emotional instability, drinking and drug use, and occasional blackouts. These two young people's lives and stories are now intertwined and we need to sort out the truth. It takes until perhaps the last 50 or so pages for things to come to a head and the final ending was very satisfactory for me.

All of Zimmerman's characters here, main and secondary and incidental, are well drawn and fascinating. The evocative writing and historical tidbits and real historical characters and current events add interest to the read. And I found the mystery to be appropriately gruesome and mysterious.

[Joyce · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. As others have mentioned, the premise for this book was fascinating. Unfortunately, the novel did not continue to be as interesting as it started out. I found it slow reading and I am one who usually reads through books fairly quickly. This one just plodded for me. The writing just did not flow smoothly and seemed stilted at times.

I did like the character of Bronwyn as the 'savage girl.' However, I never did grow to like the other main character and narrator of the story, Hugo Delegate. I thought he was a rather pathetic person who seemed to epitomize the wealthy playboy stereotype. His character development was very strange to me.

It was interesting reading about the lifestyle of the very wealthy in the late 1800s.
The mystery behind the murders was not done in a way that kept me in suspense, either.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://theprettygoodgatsby.wordpress....

Following her successful The Orphanmaster, Jean Zimmerman returns with a marvelously detailed - and at times, downright gruesome! - tale of the Gilded Age, high society, and a feral child.

In 1875, the Delgate family, among the upper crust of Manhattan society, takes a tour of the American West. While in Nevada, they stop for a local sideshow attraction, Savage Girl. It's said the girl was raised by wolves and is presented on stage for the curious audience to gawk over. Mr. and Mrs. Delgate are collectors of a sort. Mrs. Delgate has in tow two helpers, or servants, that she refers to as her pets: a Chinese woman named Tu Li and a Zuni berdache ('two-spirit', identifies with both genders). Nothing would make Mrs. Delgate happier than adding a feral child to her brood, particularly since this girl is around the same age her own daughter would be had she not died as a baby. For Mr. Delgate, the social experiment - is it possible to teach and mold this girl, to debut her - is far too exciting to pass up.

Almost immediately from the start the plan begins to crack, but the Delgates press on, teaching this girl - Bronwyn, they discover she could write her name - to write and read, the proper way to eat, and how to curtsy. Back in Manhattan, Bronwyn meets all the right people, learns all the correct dance steps, and soon becomes a media darling. Her debut was a Must See and any dress she wore immediately set the current trend.

Bronwyn had a power over people and no one was immune - not even her 'brother,' Hugo Delgate. Hugo was studying anatomy at Harvard and had a promising career ahead of him until Savage Girl came along. After one murder too many, Hugo's suspicions are tested and it's Hugo who tells this story as he's sitting in a holding cell. Savage Girl is his confession for murders and mutilations stretching the length of the United States.

From the opening chapter I knew I was in for a good time. Savage Girl's imagery is so rich and detailed I had no trouble at all believing I was in the newly-settled West or mingling with millionaires in New York. It certainly didn't hurt that Zimmerman included many historical figures as cameos (my favorite was a college-aged Teddy Roosevelt)! Although I wasn't quite sure how I would enjoy having Hugo narrate the story, my worries quickly vanished. Hugo had it all before Savage Girl came along. His studies were going well and everyone was waiting for the moment he would finally propose to Delia Showalter. Once Bronwyn appeared, however, everything fell apart. So strong was his infatuation that he confessed to a series of murders he didn't commit - although his near-descent into madness and worry that perhaps he did murder all those men was fascinating and morbidly enjoyable.

When she was discovered, Bronwyn had a few items: a Bible and Vanity Fair, both with many missing pages, and a dirty doll. It was clear that at some point before losing her family she had been taught to read and write, and under the Delgates's wings, she quickly picked up where she left off. Her story, once she decides to share the details with Hugo, was heartbreaking. She remembered bits and pieces of her childhood: her parents and a baby, she possibly came from Wales. She had been taken by the Comanche and it is this tribe that she considers to be her true family. They raised her as their own, taught her how to ride horses and hunt, gave her a new name. When settlers came along Bronwyn found herself alone once more, this time she truly had to fend for herself. For years she lived in a cave with a jaguar cub until a severe illness led her to being discovered and taken into town as a new attraction.

There were only two minor issues I had with Savage Girl. The story takes place over the course of a single year. In that time, Bronwyn was able to transform from a feral child to a debutante fully capable of holding her own in a philosophical debate. That this happened in such a short time frame seemed a bit unrealistic to me. My other issue was that, as the reader, I was constantly being told things that I'm perfectly able to figure out myself. On multiple occasions Hugo would pause his narration to explain what a snide remark was supposed to mean. In one case Delia spoke and the following sentence read: "This was Delia's pointed reference to the evening she saw..." This hand-holding became slightly aggravating as the novel wore on.

Despite my minor quibbles Savage Girl was a wonderful read. It's 400-page length kept me engaged and invested until the end and whenever I had to stop reading the book was constantly on my mind and I couldn't wait to get back to it. The best part of the story, however, was that I was kept guessing until the last page. Bravo, Ms. Zimmerman! If you're a reader who enjoys historical fiction and doesn't mind getting down and dirty (remember, these murders involved mutilation), I strongly recommend picking up a copy of Savage Girl! I loved it and am now interested in reading Zimmerman's previous novel!

[Takia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Umm, when crazy attracts crazy and the narrator is long winded.

[Joanna Spock Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this book, and I wish I was still reading about these characters. It's set in the mid-1850's and takes place mostly in New York, along with a bit of Colorado and Massachusetts, and it includes some real people and events.
It's told by the son of an extremely wealthy family in his mid-twenties, and the story is about his family and the 'feral girl' they take in and groom, along with other interesting family members, along with some grisly murders, and trying to find out who committed them.
The only reasons I did not give 5 stars, since I really loved the story, are the following: was the glass container with all the appendages known about by Brownyn all that time, and if so, why didn't she tell someone, and, where were the two people from Colorado living all that time?
Highly recommended.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dear friend recommended this book to me. Overall, I enjoyed it. I think the premise was good, but I'm not convinced how believable it was. So much detail of the main character, Hugo (who is not the Savage Girl) and not really enough of Bronwyn. It seemed like a really short time period for her to become "ready for society". Given how Hugo's character is described and how Bronwyn's develops, I truly can't see how they end up together. But I'm a sucker for a happy ending, so I'm glad they did.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved how the time and place is brought to life so vividly. Absorbing story.