Line by Line

Jennifer Delamere has looked into the history of telegraphy and its impact on the world, and pulled together a quite amusing novel centered around telegraphs and telegrams.

Alice McNeill is a telegrapher for the Central Telegraph Offices in London, but when she hears of an opening at the Henley Company, an imports company, she applies for the job.  She is a conscientious telegrapher who works on incoming telegrams by ear, listening to Morse Code as it comes in.  She rarely has to read the ticker-tape, which makes her more valuable to the company. 

Douglas Shaw is second only to the owner in the Henley Company and is relied on by Henley to make contracts and provide profit.

Archie Clapper is Mr. Henley's wife's cousin, and whose only purpose in life is to make life harder for his coworkers.  When he feels that he's been jilted by Alice, he goes out of his way to get back at her, and eventually get her fired.

This is a compelling novel that has cameos by real historical people who were active in the business world at the time.  The secondary characters really flesh out the plot and make it more enjoyable, and the novel itself is very hard to put down.

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a telegram full of good news.

Bethany House  and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review.  The opinions expressed are my own.