Opium and Absinthe is a recent historical fiction novel from Lydia Kang. The book appeared in July of 2020. For my recent reviews of other novels, see:
The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett
Freshwater Road, by Denise Nicholas
A Long Petal of the Sea, by Isabel Allende
This Tender Land, by William Kent Krueger
This is the second book I’ve reviewed from Lydia Kang and it bears a few similarities to the first. For one, the setting is New York City once again, although now we’re in the 1890s rather than the 1850s. Opium and Absinthe is also, like The Impossible Girl, a historical mystery that calls on the author’s former career in the medical field.
Plot Basics of Opium and Absinthe
The main character is Tillie Pembroke, an heiress for an elite New York family. Except, she’s not a typical heiress. She reads dictionaries, for goodness sake. She’s curious about more than how to make more money and keep her wardrobe up-to-date and fashionable. Sadly for Tillie, the rest of her family is the reverse.
The events that kick the plot into motion are Tillie breaking her shoulder in a horse-riding accident and her sister Lucy’s murder. She wants to investigate the murder, since no one else seems to want to, but she simultaneously becomes hooked on sedatives, then stronger drugs, to deal with her shoulder pain. Tillie goes from laudanum to opium to morphine to heroine. All of these are, save the last, prescribed by physicians, mind you, putting the questionable medical knowledge of the late 1800s on full display. The heroine is available over the counter, in any case, in tablet form.
Another thing about Lucy’s murder—the killer exsanguinated her body, and the bodies of other victims, too. The story takes place in 1899, the same year that Bram Stoker’s Dracula appeared in print, so Tillie spends much of the book trying to learn how to catch a vampire in between shooting herself up with narcotics.
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New York’s 5th Avenue, where Tillie lives in Opium and Absinthe.
Things to Like About Opium and Absinthe
The strengths of Opium and Absinthe are similar to those of The Impossible Girl. One thing Kang is quite skilled at is to keep the reader guessing about who the villain will be in the end. We get enough subtle clues and questionable decisions by half a dozen characters that any of them might be the primary antagonist, only to find out in the end that none of them are.
In addition, the historical descriptions are superb. The reader certainly felt like they were a member of New York’s high society at the tail end of the Gilded Age. Indeed, one problem Tillie must overcome is just getting out of her house without an escort because heiresses needed a proper escort when going anywhere. Hitting the town without one meant scandal.
Things I Didn’t Like as Much
One plot development was as old as novels themselves, practically—the rich woman must choose between her perfect match in high society, who is a snob out to marry for money and prestige while keeping Tillie subservient to boot, and the poor but authentic man on the streets who’ll encourage her to be who she wants to be. You don’t need me to tell you who Tillie chooses, either. ‘Nuf said.
Outside of that, Tillie’s character was hard for me. She wanted to get outside the box that elite society wanted to smother her with, and that’s good. Tillie was flawed in her constant use of drugs, and I’m okay with that, too. It’s realistic, and she does kick her habit eventually. (Through sheer personal willpower, of course. Can a heroine do things any other way?)
Once she’s clean, however, her brilliant idea is to give herself a potentially deadly disease to lure out her sister’s killer. It’s a somewhat original way to resolve a mystery, I’ll grant the author that, but a really dumb idea on Tillie’s part. It works, of course, because of the killer’s truly bizarre understanding of medicine. I won’t give any greater spoiler than that, but it’s weird, and your reaction to this part will influence what you think of the entire book when you finish.
Evaluation
I can see how readers could have a variety of reactions to Opium and Absinthe. The things that Lydia Kang does well, she does very well. But the plot just didn’t have a hold on me the whole time. The first book of Kang’s I read, The Impossible Girl¸ I scored a strong 8 of 10. Opium and Absinthe feels more like a wobbling 7 of 10.
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As always, I welcome constructive and polite discussion in the comments section. Thank you for reading!