Anna Blanc was fighting against the constraints of the day in which the women of the time had to follow, especially her domineering father. She was a socialite who read banned books, wanted to vote, supported the suffragettes, and was arrested for smoking by the Venice police.

She was trying to elope when circumstances thwarted her plans. While she was waiting for her father to bail her out, she was able to sneak out of the office where she was kept and decided to tour the building. When people realized she was hiding in the morgue, they ran to locate her, including Edgar Wright who had sent her Champaign for her ill-fated honeymoon.

Anna decided she wanted to be a detective. As she pressed through with her plan she not only met strong obstacles, she also achieved goals to help others and solve crimes. Anna wrangled a way to get what she wanted – the opportunity to become a police matron, although her first assignment was challenging and the men she worked with didn’t take her suggestions seriously.

She felt strong that she had made a difference in someone’s life whether they knew it or not. For example, she tried to get prostitutes out of the game and she also helped a young boy whose mother committed suicide.

The Secret Life of Anna Blanc by Jennifer Kincheloe is a period mystery set in 1907 Los Angeles, California. The author’s debut novel is a fast-paced humorous romp that will have readers chuckling as they turn pages to find out what mischief the protagonist gets into next.

The quirky heroine is easy to like and readers will want to support her no matter what the situation. The author has created a strong sense of place with the setting a main part of the story when women were under the rule of their father or husband.

Anna’s attempts to get free of male dominance places her in peril quite often, but also shows her as a role model to other women who are keeping an eye on her escapades whether they agree with her method or not.

Readers will find this book well worth reading if they are interested in the history of the early years of women’s rights and their beginning fight to free themselves from the rigid constraints of the times.

If you are interested in purchasing The Secret Life of Anna Blanc, it is available at Amazon.com.

A special thank you goes to Seventh Street Books for providing us a complimentary copy of this novel for our review.