The Fragments by Toni Jordan

Ostensibly a literary mystery, the real mystery for the first half of the book is what the two strands of the story have to do with each other. The action switches between 1986 Brisbane, with loner bookseller Caddy, and 1930s US, with farm girl turned factory girl Rachel. Caddy attends an exhibition on much-lauded first time author Inga Karlson, who died in a fire in 1939, along with her publisher and all of the newly printed copies of her second book. Only a few fragments survived and they have been used to build the legend of the mysterious Inga. At the exhibition Caddy meets an old lady who sets her on an investigation of what really happened to her favourite author. The novel eventually becomes a tale of two love stories - between Caddy and disillusioned academic Jamie; and between Rachel and eccentric writer Inga. But it takes so long to get to these relationships that too little time is invested in them and they get somewhat lost in the rush to solution of the mystery. The essential characters and their interactions are nicely done, engaging the reader and enlisting our interest and sympathy. But there is an awful lot that doesn’t add up, making it difficult to suspend disbelief about many aspects. Would Inga really have been that famous around the world for so long, based on one book? Would Rachel really have cut all contact with her family? The shocking twist at the end is actually quite predictable, which makes it a bit of a letdown.