The Philadelphia Inquirer review of Dr. Radway's Sarsaparilla Resolvent: Dazed and Grateful

The day began early, as they do, and I was out when the emails started to come in about a Philadelphia Inquirer review of Dr. Radways's Sarsaparilla Resolvent. Email after email.

Congratulations!

But it wasn't until just now that I had the time to find the story myself, and I am floored. Floored.

I never knew if anyone would read this book when I wrote it, rewrote it, rewrote it. I never knew if it would find a publishing home. I just knew how much I loved William and his Philadelphia, and so I carried on.

Katie Haegele, how do I thank you for words like these?

The bare bones of Beth Kephart's new story sound modern, but this bright, burning novel—intended for a young adult audience but powerful enough to engage any adult—is set in the Philadelphia of 1870. Using surprising period details and a gorgeous turn of phrase, Kephart has called forth an interesting time in our city's history and made it live again for just a moment.

And later:

The language is what does it. These people feel real, and we have no trouble imagining them living out their dramas just as painfully and joyously as we do ours, 100 or more years before we were born.