CarolSue – recently widowed from her second husband, is still sore with grief. Rudderless, she agrees to leave her suburban Atlanta life and return to the home farm in Indiana where she grew up. A life change that at first does not suit her at all…
Her immersion into her sister’s farm life is told with hilarity. Chickens in the kitchen, goats, cats, dogs, and canning…. never-ending canning…
Louisa – a widow herself, has also lost her beloved grandson. She works hard on her farm and adores her various animals, especially her cat Marvelle. Recently, she has been distracted from her losses by the attention of the local sheriff, Gus, with whom she takes afternoon ‘naps’.
Gary – Louisa’s son has lost his teenage son due to an automobile accident. His wife has left him and he blames himself for the loss of both his wife and his son. He misguidedly falls prey to a manipulative and unscrupulous evangelist preacher. He starts up a ‘church‘ of his own in a white barn. Naive and easily led, he finds himself in an extreme moral dilemma when he discovers that a baby girl has been left in the church. He takes her to his mother and aunt to care for while he searches for the baby’s mother, an illegal immigrant from Honduras.
This tiny girl, Gracia, will come to alter the entire family dynamic and cause some healing as well as no little heartbreak to those whose hearts have already been broken.
Written with humour and compassion this was a truly enjoyable read. The characters were well rendered and the menagerie of animals added levity to the narrative.
The author has taken some very serious subjects and treated them with respect via sarcasm, humour, and pathos. The story tells of the love/hate relationship that can often be found between siblings. She speaks to the various ways different people grieve and the often misguided decisions they make when they are vulnerable.
An easy read that I recommend to readers who enjoy a good story told in an entertaining way.
This review was written voluntarily and my rating was in no way influenced by the fact that I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel from Kensington Books via Edelweiss. ISBN: 9781496725677 – ASIN: B082WQZF92 – 224 pages
Lynne Hugo is a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship recipient who has also received grants from the Ohio Arts Council and the Kentucky Foundation for Women. Her memoir, Where The Trail Grows Faint, won the Riverteeth Literary Nonfiction Book Prize and her novel, A Matter of Mercy, received the 2015 Independent Publishers Silver Medal for Best North-East Fiction. She has published eight novels, one of which became a Lifetime Original Movie of the Month. Through the Ohio Arts Council’s renowned Arts in Education program, Lynne has taught creative writing to hundreds of schoolchildren.
Born and educated in New England, Lynne and her husband live in Ohio with a yellow Lab feared by squirrels in a three state area. Scout excels at barking and playing tennis ball shortstop.
Follow Lynne Hugo on Twitter and/or Visit her official website.
Schrödinger – the Skelf family’s ginger tabby, is a welcome diversion throughout the novel. Aloof, yet affectionate, Schrödinger is disdainful of Einstein, the new canine addition to the family.
,Melanie Wallace was born and raised in New Hampshire and now lives with her husband in Myloi, an agrarian village below the Ohi mountain range in Greece, and in Athens. Her novel 
Most readers will acknowledge that some words reappear time and time again in titles. Often these words are associated with a particular genre. Case in point: “The girl on the train” and “Gone girl” spawned countless thriller titles with the word ‘girl’ in the title.
I know there are hundreds of books with the word ‘SILENCE’ in the title, but I’m featuring a selection of 30 titles that appeal to me personally, as a way of sharing my book love.
Born and raised in Liverpool, England, La Plante trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), where her fellow students included Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt and Ian McShane.
As you can see, we are standing at 32% completed when we should be over 50% given the date. Oh dear…. are we forgetting to keep track?
The books she read to complete her BINGO are:
It has been difficult as a grandparent, because we couldn’t visit him in hospital due to Covid-19 restrictions. I can’t wait for him to be released so that I can give him a cuddle.
Twenty-four-year-old Nikoleta has just traveled to England from Poland. She is bringing her boyfriend’s son to London to meet up with his father. She is uncertain in navigating London via tube and she doesn’t have a good grasp of the English language. In her bewilderment, she loses her clasp of Danek’s hand and he travels on the tube without her…
Angie and Danek settle in at Jaywick Sands and Angie’s skills as a seamstress and a mechanic help to ingratiate them with the locals. Angie has finally found friendship and a real sense of belonging.
Bug is the best driver on the eastern seaboard. He agrees to drive for a heist from a jewelry store. A decision he will come to bitterly regret… and one that will irrevocably change his world.
Shawn A. Cosby is a writer from Southeastern
Molly Aitken was born in Scotland in 1991 and brought up in Ireland. She studied Literature and Classics at Galway University and has an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa. She was shortlisted for Writing Magazine’s fairy tale retelling prize 2016, and has a story in the Irish Imbas 2017 Short Story Collection.
The book I am most excited to read
AND… I downloaded NINE titles from NetGalley in July:
The Chain was chosen by public vote and the prize Judges, triumphing against a tremendously strong shortlist – including books from Oyinkan Braithwaite, Helen Fitzgerald, Jane Harper, Mick Herron and Abir Mukherjee – at a time when the UK is experiencing a boom in crime fiction. Adrian’s hit thriller marks the turning point in his life that has led him to a series of success, as he became an international bestseller and had Universal snap up the film rights in a seven-figure deal.
Liz really minds the long days left alone in this foreign place. She hates the house and the location and can’t wait to return to London. She has a perfect view of the three grand houses across the water from the loft in her father-in-law’s house. She takes to watching them with binoculars she finds in the loft. She wonders if Adam’s father used them to spy on his neighbours too….
The characters in this thriller were well depicted and I could easily imagine them and felt I knew them in some small way. If I had one grievance with the book is that the narrative jumped from person to person, and time line to time line too often. Or, at least often enough that I found myself wondering when the action was taking place.
Brad Smith was born and raised in the hamlet of Canfield, in southern Ontario, a couple of hours from Toronto.
