The Cartographers

There are too many ways to give spoilers if I review this book in detail, so I will keep it general. It's about Nell Young, who was considered an up and coming scholar in cartography, next in line to take her father's place as the Map Curator at the New York Public Library, until she fell from grace when she found what she thought were rare and precious maps in a box labeled “junk” in the basement. The book begins 7 years after that, Nell and her father having been estranged for all of that time, when she gets a call from one of his colleagues asking her to come to the NYPL, where she finds out her father has died in his office. The novel tells the story of Nell searching for the answers to all the questions she has about their estrangement, her father's legacy, and his death.

The central feature of the story, once you see it, is pretty interesting, but it takes almost half the book to come fully into view. The author is good at creating suspense and keeping you with her as the story develops, but in retrospect I wondered how much of all that development was necessary. Soon after that, I made some guesses about how things would turn out and, sad to say, I was right. I still enjoyed reading it and you might too, if you enjoy stories about academic scholarship.