# Read the first page of Frog Music by Emma Donoghue Read the opening of Frog Music by Emma Donoghue free, no signup. A murder in the 1876 San Francisco heat wave. - Page: https://uncovered.ink/read/frog-music-emma-donoghue - Genre: Historical mysteries - Year: 2014 - ISBN: 9781447249764 - Read it blind (cover and title hidden): https://uncovered.ink/?b=9781447249757&s=read-page - Buy: https://bookshop.org/a/125786/9781447249764 - Borrow: https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=9781447249764 ## The opening Sitting on the edge of the bed in the front room, Blanche stoops to rip at the laces of her gaiters. “ ‘Dors, min p’tit quinquin—’ ” Her husky voice frays to a thread on the second high note. She clears her throat, rasping away the heat. A train hurtles north from San Jose. The light from the locomotive’s headlamp jabs through the long gap between the peeling window frame and the green blind, illuminating the room for Blanche: the shabby bureau, the bedstead, and Jenny, lolling against the scarred headboard. The Eight Mile House shakes like cardboard as the freight cars rattle by. Here at San Miguel Station, they’re right at the southern boundary—the last gasp—of San Francisco. Two days Blanche and Jenny have been boarding with the McNamaras, auld acquaintance to Jenny but still virtually strangers to Blanche. How much longer will Blanche be stuck in this four-room shack, she wonders, on the parched outskirts of the outskirts of the City? And how will she decide when it’s even halfway safe to go back? Blanche has got the left gaiter off now, and the boot below it, but the laces on the other one have snagged, and in the light of the single candle stub she can’t find the knot; her long nails pick at the laces. Dors, min p’tit quinquin, Min p’tit pouchin, Min gros rojin . . . Sleep, my little child, my little chick, my fat grape. The old tune comes more sweetly now, the notes like pinpricks. A silly Picard rhyme her grandmother used to sing to Blanche in the tiny attic in Paris. “ ‘Dors, min p’tit quinquin, min p’tit pouchin . . . ’ ” Jenny slides the refrain back at her like a lazy leaf in a river. It still amazes Blanche how fast this young woman can pick up a song on first hearing. “How does the rest of it go?” Jenny asks, up on one elbow, brown cheeks sparkling with sweat. Her flesh from nose to brows is puffy, darkening. She’ll have a pair of black eyes by morning. But Blanche doesn’t want to think about that. Jenny never harps on what’s past, does she? She wears her bruises like parade gear, and they fade fast. Blanche sits up straighter on the edge of the bed and sings on. Te m’f’ras du chagrin Si te n’dors point qu’à d’main. “ ‘Shut your trap, little baby, before I shut it for you,’ ” Jenny translates very loosely, nodding. “Guess most lullabies boil down to that.” And Blanche is suddenly winded by an image of P’tit, wherever he is. A stern hand coming down to shut his trap. If only she knew the baby was all right: just that much. Has Jenny ever in her life stopped to think before opening her own goddamn trap? But her friend’s eyes are half sealed already, feline as she settles back on the limp pillows. Above the nightshirt borrowed from McNamara, Jenny’s battered face is flattening toward sleep. Blanche hauls up her skirt and sets her right ankle on her left knee to get a better look at the tangled lace. The gritty canvas of the gaiter clings to her calf like skin that won’t be sloughed. Mud flecking the floorboards, the dingy sheets; the whole shack is probably crawling with fleas and lice. Blanche bends closer to make out the knot. ## Books with a similar feel - [The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco](https://uncovered.ink/read/the-name-of-the-rose-umberto-eco.md) - [Vienna Triangle by Brenda Webster](https://uncovered.ink/read/vienna-triangle-brenda-webster.md) - [The Trespasser by Tana French](https://uncovered.ink/read/the-trespasser-tana-french.md) - [The Little Friend by Donna Tartt](https://uncovered.ink/read/the-little-friend-donna-tartt.md) - [The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths](https://uncovered.ink/read/the-postscript-murders-elly-griffiths.md) - [When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson](https://uncovered.ink/read/when-will-there-be-good-news-kate-atkinson.md) --- Source: Uncovered (https://uncovered.ink). A short sample shown for reading and discovery. Rights holders can request removal at https://uncovered.ink/takedown.