In general, the book was accessible and easy to read, although I found the prose leaned a little towards the purple ("his obsidian eyes could punch thIn general, the book was accessible and easy to read, although I found the prose leaned a little towards the purple ("his obsidian eyes could punch through steel," and similar). It offered a good historical foundation of the period, but it was definitely skewed by a wealthy male viewpoint. While there were plenty of anxious train rides and annoyances with bureaucracy, I felt I only got the basic overview of the situation, and would need to find additional information on my own. Some of the official photographs would have been a nice touch, or possibly a layout of the fair. Having never been to Chicago, it's difficult to visualize the scope of the property and the buildings surrounding it.
While the fair and H. H. Holmes's story were interwoven throughout the book, they never came together in any satisfactory manner; they simply shared a time period and location, and, briefly, Holmes attended the fair with two of his victims. Because his crimes went unnoticed for some time after the fair ended, and he was arrested on unrelated charges in a different state, I didn't understand the reasoning for titling the book "The Devil in the White City." Yes, Holmes operated a hotel during the fair, and may have possibly killed some of his guests, it's never confirmed and his only on-page victims are people whom he met unrelated to the fair. In essence, he would have killed people with or without "the White City," and the relationship between the two seemed a little forced.
Overall, the book prompted me to do some of my own research, and some of the side characters will be worth looking into (such as Sol Bloom, who oversaw the Midway and the human exhibits displayed therein; or Sophia Hayden, who designed the Women's Building). World's Fairs aren't my usual area of interest but I admit, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed learning about this one....more
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