Eva Pasco

5.0 out of 5 stars

A Ringside Seat!

Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2024

Verified Purchase

Author Susan Sage’s well-written, historical fiction is a no-holds-barred account recreating the tumultuous relationship between Robert Edwardo Sage and Catherine McIntosh. That the author’s riveting story has been pieced together and embellished by channeling her father’s (Bob Sage’s nephew and namesake) old photos, letters, and unpublished memoirs, renders this work a page-turner painstakingly construe d to convey authenticity.

As though Susan Sage stepped inside and outside the boxing ring herself, the reader has a ringside seat bearing witness to the Roaring Twenties and the colorful lives of two likeminded individuals—Bob and Catherine. Whether kicking up their heels at speakeasies during Prohibition, hitting the booze hard, chain smoking, getting a gander of Bob smacking Kate around a little too often, and his womanizing, they’re a legal dream team while their law practice, Sage & Sage, lasts.

All in all, these fighting Irish champion the causes of those disenfranchised by the Great Depression, or those held back from advancing their careers due to gender bias in the workplace. Just as angry, I wanted to box some ears myself. If Catherine were a man, there’d be no stopping her. I teared up when she suffered through her miscarriages.

While intemperance and indulgence may have gotten the best of them both, their indomitable spirit to make the world a better place lives on in my mind. I highly recommend this heart-wrenching story pulsating with passion.