In The Shadow Of Blackbirds Chapter Summary

The novel, In the Shadow of Blackbirds, by Cat Winters, takes place from October 16, 1918 to November 11, of that same year. This, is the year that World War I finally came to an end. During this time period the Spanish Influenza virus ran rampant across America, leaving a trail of death and fear in its wake. With the extreme numbers of Americans dying overseas in battle, as well as at home by the grips of the flu, people tried to get connected with their spiritualistic sides. This gave way to an ever-increasing amount of shrinks, mediums, spiritualists, and willing participants in these cons. The book explores this period in history and human nature in an interesting and well put together way. The main character, Mary Shelly Black, was born and raised in Portland, Oregon for sixteen years of her life by her father, a Spanish-American War veteran. After his time in the service, her father developed a condition called soldier’s heart. Nowadays this is …show more content…
Throughout the novel, the reader is reminded of this through her problem solving skills, sleuthy detective work, interests in science and electricity, and her ability to think quickly on her feet. In this period in history these things were looked down upon though. Women were expected to be meek and proper little ladies that stay at home and just look pretty. Not much power or faith was put into the women of this era, especially not the ones of the same age as Mary Shelly. She broke through the gender stereotypes of the time with her strong will and determination to not be written off as just some girl. Despite how many times she was told that her interest in technology was strange she remained herself. Even after Stephen’s funeral, when all the strange happenings around her were written off as hallucinations caused by grief, she stuck to what she knew was right and kept fighting until she found out the