Review: The Fifth Heart by Dan Simmons

This was…a Dan Simmons book. If you’re familiar with his work you’ll know what this means: plots that are used mostly as hangers (and sometimes go unresolved) for rich historical fiction with at least a hint of fantasy/horror. Works that are very meticulous and very long.

In The Fifth Heart, Simmons explores America in the 1890s. While the novel takes the reader through Boston, New York, and the World’s Fair in Chicago, most of the time is spent exploring Washington DC, particularly the adjoining mansions of Henry Adams and John Hay, who together with their wives and explorer Clarence King formed the Five Hearts salon. The story takes place a few years after Henry’s wife Clover committed suicide in real life (as far as we can tell). Since her death someone has been sending cards saying “She Was Murdered” to the remaining Five Hearts, and Clover’s brother hired the best detective available to investigate: Sherlock Holmes.

To start with the Five Hearts, I had only learned about them last year while reading Gore Vidal’s Empire (which moves from the Spanish American War through the Roosevelt presidency), so it was fun to revisit them in an earlier time. As for adding Sherlock Holmes to the mix…it was a bold choice. It was definitely fun to see things through his eyes, and follow his deductions. It was made clear how much smarter he was than anyone else in the story – so much so that the fantasy element belonged to him: he was trying to solve the mystery of whether he was real or a fictional character. His sounding board in this case was not Watson (this took place after Reichenbach Falls but before his reappearance in London) but instead the bumbling author (and struggling playwright) Henry James. Why Henry James? I have no idea – maybe if I knew more about nineteenth century literature it would make sense – but he was an intriguing sidekick nonetheless.

As I said above, this is truly a Dan Simmons novel. The main mystery goes for almost 700 pages and is solved pretty simply. The mystery of whether Sherlock was “real” or not is not really resolved (unless I missed something – the ending was a bit murky to me). It also seemed at one point that it would be important to know who the narrator was – but that didn’t seem to be revealed (although, again, I may have been too dull to guess). But that’s not the point. Want to take a deep dive into how the Foggy Bottom section of DC got its name? Want to spend time with a past-his-prime Mark Twain? Want to be there when Sherlock Holmes takes his first shot of heroine? Want to see future president Teddy Roosevelt walk down a dingy street for no reason just so the story can work him into having a street fight?

None of this makes much sense, but like most Dan Simmons books I’ve read, it meets the most important criteria: I looked forward to it every night. Recommended (but know what you’re in for!): Eight out of ten hot dogs.