Tag Archives: Christian fiction

Review: Aftermath

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Aftermath, a suspense novel by Terri Blackstock

Terri Blackstock’s novel, Aftermath, opens with three young women at their favorite band’s concert. As the Libertarian political candidate the band was opening for came to the podium, an explosion rocked the stage area. Only one of the girls, Taylor, makes it out alive.

Just minutes after the explosion, policemen pull aside Dustin Webb’s car. They ask to search his trunk, and, having nothing to hide, he agrees. He’s shocked to see plastics for explosives in his trunk. He insists he doesn’t know how they got there and he didn’t put them there. The officers don’t believe him. They got an anonymous tip that he was the bomber, he worked with bombs in the Army, and his security company had a client which had explosives stolen from them. Everything adds up to Dustin being involved in the bombing.

Desperate, Dustin calls a friend from his past, Jamie Powell. She was the only person who believed in him when she lived next door. Perhaps she’ll believe in him now. They haven’t spoken since he went into the Army, but she’s a lawyer now, and he needs a good one.

Jamie drops everything to help Dustin. She has to fight for the right to represent him with the partners of her firm, who fear the repercussions of defending a suspected terrorist.

Meanwhile, Taylor’s fragile recovery from OCD is threatened by the tragedy she underwent. Despite seeing her psychiatrist, starting a new medicine, and being watched over by her sister, Taylor’s grief and guilt over not staying behind to help her friends escalates her symptoms. She feels the only way she can set things right is to find who did this.

I don’t often read suspense novels, but Terri is a master of them. This one had me on the edge of my seat, yet every character drew my sympathy. The faith element is clear and natural and not heavy-handed. If you like suspense—and even if you don’t—I think you would enjoy this book.

Review: What She Left for Me

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In Tracie Peterson’s novel, What She Left for Me, Jana McGuire is a pastor’s wife who just returned home to Spokane from a three-week missions trip to Africa. Puzzled that no one was at the airport to meet her, she hails a cab and arrives at home to a note on the table. Her husband wrote that he left her for his church secretary and wanted a divorce. Jana saw that he also took anything of value in the house, including her jewelry. At the bank the next day, Jana discovers her savings and checking accounts have been cleaned out, leaving her only $10.

Jana’s husband, Rob, told the deacon board at church two weeks previously that he was resigning because Jana wanted out of the marriage. The church searched for an interim pastor and found one, who was moving into the parsonage that weekend. Therefore Jana needed to move out of her home immediately. When Jana explained her circumstances, the men were more sympathetic. But by that time, the interim pastor was still coming, and Jana still needed to leave.

With no home or money, and finding out she is pregnant, Jana has only one choice. She has to call her mother, with whom she was not close: the mother who kept her at arm’s length all her life, wished she was a boy, sent her to boarding schools, and said she wished she had aborted Jana.

Jana’s mother, Eleanor, had moved to Montana to stay with her octogenarian Aunt Taffy. Eleanor doesn’t want Jana to come, but Taffy is thrilled.

As expected, arguments erupt between Jana and her mother frequently while Taffy tries to be a peacemaker. Jana questions her mother about her upbringing in an effort to understand her better, but her mother shuts down any discussion of her past.

Yet Jana’s presence cause Eleanor’s painful memories to resurface, told to the reader in flashbacks. Eleanor had coped by shutting down all past memories and refusing to be vulnerable or close to anyone.

And Jana, in her pain and bitterness, is beginning to follow in her mother’s footsteps.

Tracie includes a note at the beginning of her book forewarning readers that the book will deal with adultery and child abuse. Tracie avoids graphic details, but she wanted to write the book because, at that time (2005), one in four girls were molested before the age of eighteen. She wanted to help readers understand what people in these circumstances go through and encourage reaching out and offering love and help.

I felt Tracie achieved her goal. But I felt she could have done so a little more efficiently. There’s a lot of repetition of certain points in the book. It’s understandable that in real life, people will bring up the same points while arguing, or people processing situations will cover the same ground repeatedly. But fiction is usually a little more streamlined and progresses more logically from point to point.

Plus, a plot device of someone walking in unheard at a vital point in a conversation was used more than once, when once was enough.

But overall, I felt the book did a good job showing what people in Eleanor’s and Jana’s circumstances go through and answering common questions and feelings, like “What did I do wrong to deserve this?” and “Why didn’t God stop this from happening?” Though the subject matter is difficult, it’s also far too common. I applaud Tracy for writing about it.

Review: Far Side of the Sea

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In Far Side of the Sea by Kate Breslin, Lieutenant Colin Mabry had been on the front in WWI. After recovering from a serious accident and the loss of his hand, he’s assigned to MI8, decoding messages sent by carrier pigeon. He’s troubled by the sounds of battle he hears across the channel as well as any loud, sudden noises.

One day he finds a carrier message to himself from a woman he thought dead, Jewel Reyer. She had taken him in, at great risk and cost to herself, when he was injured in France. He had promised to return for her. But then he had his accident and recovery, and afterward heard her entire village had been attacked with no survivors.

He obtains permission to travel to France. He is stunned to find that the message was sent not by Jewel, but by her half-sister Johanna, who works with doves for the French Army Intelligence. Johanna found Jewel’s diary, where she mentioned Colin. Johanna has reason to think her sister is alive and in the custody of a German agent who had been in charge of her village. Johanna wants Colin to help her find Jewel.

Colin is angry at the deception and wary of Johanna. But if there is a chance Jewel is alive and needs his help, he must look for her. He owes her that. Plus, the two were just beginning to develop feelings for each other, and he must know if she still feels the same way.

So he sets aside his anger at Johanna, and they travel to Jewel’s last known location with more questions than answers.

But they find themselves in danger, not knowing whom to trust.

This is the first book I’ve ever read by Kate Breslin, and it definitely reeled me in after the first few chapters. Johanna has several secrets she has not shared with Colin, and bits of her story and background are revealed through the book, as well as her reasons for not sharing all. It takes a while to decide whether she is trustworthy and someone we should be pulling for.

Then they meet an array of iffy characters and situations and face multiple twists and turns.

The story also deals with Colin and Johanna’s inner issues as well. Colin not only suffers from what we now know as PTSD, but he’s lost confidence in himself. Johanna had a checkered upbringing and struggled to find a place to belong or believe that there was a God who was interested in her.

I didn’t know at first that this book was a sequel to another, Not By Sight. Far Side of the Sea read well on its own, but I might like to go back and read the first book some time if I catch it on sale.

I enjoyed the author’s notes at the end, where she tells more about carrier pigeons used in war and what details and people were real or made up.

I’d had the Kindle version of this book for a while, but recently saw the audiobook was among Audible’s free titles. It was nice to switch back and forth between reading or listening, depending on my circumstances.

As I said, this was the first of Kare Breslin’s books I’ve read, but it won’t be the last.

Laudable Linkage

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Laudable Linkage

I found a lot of good reading this week:

A Comforting Resource for People Who Have Lost Parents. My friend, Lois, lost both parents within five weeks of each other a few year ago. Some of her blog posts since then have been about processing their loss and working through grief. She found a lot of resources for losing a child or a spouse, but not much on losing parents. That seemed to be treated as just a normal part of life. Though the death of one’s parents is inevitable, grief still runs deep. Lois has just pulled these posts together in one resource page. She tells about it and links to the Help for Parent Loss page there.

How Can I Cultivate a Listening Life in a Noisy World? “Do we demonstrate through our choices that we truly believe that we NEED God’s Word? Are we still ‘the people of the Book?'”

Can a Christian Have Mental Illness? HT to Challies. “Some Christians believe that Christians cannot have mental illness. If a professing Christian is depressed, anxious, or bipolar, they think it’s because they are not a real Christian, or that there is some terrible sin they haven’t repented of, or that they need to repent of the depression or whatever the problem is. Nearly half (48 percent) of evangelicals believe that serious mental illness can be overcome with prayer and Bible study alone. The result of this condemnation of mental illness as sin is that many Christians do not admit they have a mental illness, they don’t talk about it, and they don’t reach out for help.”

We Need Every Word, HT to Challies. “I want to feast on the Bible passages I love, the ones that make me feel some note of pleasure or comfort. I want the reminders that I’m loved, the encouragements to hold fast, and the songs of praise that remind me of God’s faithfulness. I don’t always want the lists or the history or the stories that don’t seem to affect me.”

Why We Are Tempted not to Pray, HT to Challies. “Prayer should stupefy us. ‘You mean, this all-powerful God who keeps galaxies spinning is interested in you telling him about your day and might alter the course of the entire cosmos because you asked him if you could have a parking space?’”

Being Involved in Church as a Teen, HT to Challies. “But being born into a church as a baby, and then growing up through Sunday school and youth group, can often make it hard to be taken seriously. Even older Christians with the best intentions can miss the mark. It can feel a bit awkward when they ask you the same questions every time they see you in church. It takes time and effort from both sides to help and encourage one another, and ultimately, have more meaningful relationships.”

Is the Lord’s Day the Christian Sabbath? HT to Challies. “At the outset, I need to say that this issue is one that I think Christians should not divide over. The view I present below is not the one I grew up with, but I have no particular ambition to convert people to my view — except that, with regard to those who have the duty to teach God’s word, it is important to do so properly, ‘rightly handling the word of truth’, preaching the full counsel of God with all His authority, but never giving human ideas that same authority.”

The Ritual of Rearranging Books, HT to Linda. “Taking all the books down was a chance to organize and cull, but primarily, it was an experience in simply remembering what was there, how it got there, and why. You can look at shelved books until the cows come home, but it’s not the same as actually taking them off the shelves.”

Seeing the Light on Religious Fiction, HT to Linda. “As I complete my 40th year working with books, I’ve changed my mind about an entire publishing genre that I once held at arm’s length at best, and treated with something akin to critical dismissal at worst. I feel like the proverbial old dog who has suddenly learned a new trick. The genre? Religious fiction.” I especially loved this one!

Routine leads to devotion, especially in Bible study.

The quote here is from “Just Not Feeling It”: How Routine Awakens Devotion.

Review: Bleak Landing

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Bleak Landing

In Terrie Todd’s novel, Bleak Landing, Bridget O’Sulliovan’s family had come to the small town of Bleak Landing in Canada from Ireland when she was seven. But her mother and brother died on the voyage. Her father took to drinking, gambling, and beating Bridget, making sure she knew he wished she had been the one to die.

Bridget didn’t fare much better at school. Her fiery red hair, Irish accent, rundown home, and drunken father all made her a target for bullying. Her two worst enemies were Victor Harrison and Bruce Nilsen, who locked her in the school outhouse one day. She vowed then that she’d leave Bleak Landing the first chance she got.

Her resolve was strengthened when she learned that one of her father’s gambling debts involved her.

Leave she did when she was fifteen, finding a job in a textile mill, then in a mansion as a cook’s helper, rising up the ranks to lady’s maid.

She becomes best friends with Maxine, a chatty girl she met at the mill. Maxine and her family are Christians. Bridget thinks they are nice and appreciates their hospitality, but doesn’t feel God has done her any favors.

Several years later, Bridget learns in a roundabout way that her father died and there’s some dispute about his property. At first she doesn’t care. She doesn’t want to see Bleak Landing again, and the property wasn’t much to speak of anyway. But when she loses her job and apartment during the Depression, her father’s property is the only thing in the world she owns besides the clothes she wore.

When she gets back to Bleak Landing, though, no one recognizes her except Victor. She looks much different and doesn’t have any identification.

Victor, during all these years, fought during WWI, was injured, came home, and trained to be a pastor. He regretted the way he treated Bridget when they were kids, but had no way to make amends to her. But will she forgive him and let him help her?

Bridget’s story was heart-breaking at first. She rises above her circumstances, but she doesn’t let anyone in and doesn’t share anything about her past with anyone. It’s a wonder, humanly speaking, that Maxine put up with her negativity, especially not knowing what caused it.. But eventually Bridget’s heart softens as she realizes she might need more than spunk to get through life.

I wouldn’t agree with every little theological point made, and I am not a fan of ecumenism between gospel-preaching and works-based churches.

But otherwise, I loved the characters and story.

Review: A Beautiful Disguise

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A Beautiful Disguise by Roseanna M. White

In A Beautiful Disguise, a novel by Roseanna M. White, siblings Yates and Marigold Fairfax had an idyllic childhood in Edwardian England. Their father loved entertainment and spent lavish money on it, even buying a circus. They grew up playing with the animals, learning the trapeze, loving the performers like family.

The Fairfaxes didn’t know, until their father’s death when they were young adults, that all the entertainment came at a steep price. They weren’t in debt, but there was no money. They needed not only to take care of themselves and the family estate, but the circus performers who depended on them.

They decided to use their skills to start an investigations company: The Imposters, LTD. They’d maintain their positions as Lord and Lady Fairfax in 1908 British society, not so much because they cared about position, but because that’s the world they knew and moved in and where their clientele would come from. Marigold remade many of her mother’s beautiful old gowns into outlandish costumes with ostrich plumes and wide hat brims so that people would notice her persona, not her. Her friend, Gemma, alias newspaper columnist G. M. Parker, played up Marigold’s “Lady M” by reporting on her lavish clothing. It worked so well that Gemma could sometimes pose as Marigold because people usually looked at her outfits, not her face.

Sir Merritt Livingstone was a faithful soldier for ten years. But a severe bout of pneumonia took ages to recover from. He’s still not at full steam, so he’s been given a desk job in the War Office Intelligence Division. One of his agents has not been heard from in an unusual amount of time. His most recent coded telegram simply contained the name of Merritt’s boss, Lord Henning. Merritt doesn’t want to believe anything ill of Henning, but he has to discreetly find out what’s going on.

Sounds like a job for the Imposters.

When Merritt meets the intriguing Lady M. at a ball, he has no idea she’s half the team looking into his request.

At first it might sound odd for a titled family to own a circus. The Fairfaxes family home was in Northumberland while they spent “the season” in London, so much of society didn’t know they had a lion in their back yard and a high wire set-up in their gym. But the circus situation worked into the story believably and smoothly. In fact, it was fun and different. Yates’ and Marigold’s acrobatic training came in handy climbing window ledges to eavesdrop, and their stage makeup allowed them to disguise themselves.

The characters and plot are well-drawn and compelling. The faith element is woven in naturally.

I listened to the audiobook wonderfully read by Susan Lyons. I missed the author’s notes at the end, which I wished audiobooks included. But I did see this blog post where Roseanna introduced the series and this interview, in which she shares some of her inspiration.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can’t wait for the sequel.

Review: A Fool and His Monet

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A Fool and His Monet

In the novel A Fool and His Monet by Sandra Orchard, Serena Jones is a new member of the FBI Art Crime Team. She was motivated by the death of her grandfather during an art theft and hopes her new position will help her find his killer.

Serena’s friend, Zoe, the temporary head of security at the local art museum, brings Serena in to report the theft of two paintings in storage, a Monet and a Rijckaert. Since the paintings were in storage, the theft had not been noticed immediately. So the case was already somewhat cold. But Serena immediately begins interviewing museum employees. Her trainer, Tanner, joins her on the case. Oddly, her supervisor makes her stop investigating her lead suspect.

Serena’s mother pesters her to get a nice, safe, normal job and give her grandchildren. Her aunt fancies herself an amateur sleuth and offers Serena advice. The aunt even inserts herself into some of Serena’s investigation.

Though the book has some serious and touching moments, it’s somewhat a comedy of errors. But the case eventually gets solved with many twists and detours along the way.

I enjoyed several art-related details sprinkled throughout the book, especially one quote from Stella Adler: “Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one.”

There’s a light faith element: a few mentions of God and prayer.

This isn’t my usual genre of book. But that’s one nice thing about Kindle sales: trying something you might not have otherwise.

I admit I got a little lost on some of the details. And I wasn’t fond of Serena’s aunt’s involvement. But overall this was a fun book. If you like figuring out mysteries with comedic undertones, you might like this one.

Review Elderberry Croft

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Elderberry Croft

Elderberry Croft by Becky Doughty is a series of stories that take place in the Coach House Trailer Park in southern California after Willow Goodhope moves into Space 12.

Willow is an enigma to her neighbors at first. She festoons her run-down spot with plants, wind chimes, fairy lights, and sun-catchers. She’s gorgeous enough to turn heads, but not at all flirtatious. She takes the initiative to introduce herself to her neighbors, even the standoffish ones, and seems to know just what everyone needs. She has a loud, outrageous laugh. But every now and then, someone will catch just a glimpse of hidden sorrow.

These stories are published in four books, with a sequel called Elderberry Days. I’ve wondered if they were originally published this way, or if they were blog posts or some other venue.

But here’s a little taste of the stories:

Elderberry Croft: Volume 1: January Breeze, February Embers, March Whispers

January Breeze: Kathy Kekoa watches from her window with binoculars as her strange new neighbor move in. Kathy is convinced that everyone in their trailer park has come there to die. Or, at the very least, they’re stuck. But Willow seems vibrant. Until Kathy hears her weeping one night. Willow’s gift of home-mixed tea leaves and other treats when Kathy is sick opens a door of friendship for them.

In her heart of hearts, Kathy yearns for her son, Makani, who hung up on her the last time she tried to call him.

February Embers: Richard Davis suffers from scarring resulting from extensive burns. His wife, Patti, has taken care of him for years. But she feels unappreciated, especially after she notices Richard eyeing the new neighbor. However, an unexpected gesture stirs the embers of the love they almost let die out.

March Whispers: Everyone thinks Joe Sanderson is single. He loves to cook and garden. He’s been content with his secrets. But Willow’s influence persuades him it’s time to step out of his comfort zone.

Elderberry Croft: Volume 2: April Shadows, May Enchantment, June Melody

April Shadows: Shelly keeps to herself, has several cats, follows a rigid routine, and only leaves her house once a week. But a seeming stalker in the neighborhood draws her out of her self-imposed isolation.

May Enchantment: Eddie is the manager of the trailer park. His new tenant, Willow, is sure shaking things up around the place. He feels protective of her, especially when his lazy lecherous brother notices her. When Eddie meets the reported stalker one night, nicknamed Shadowman by the park, his assumptions are upended and he doesn’t know what to think.

June Melody: Myra may be a hypochondriac, but she has a sharp eye to notice and welcome misfits and oddballs. She loves to be needed. But an accident lands her flat on her back, and Willow is the first to help her.

Elderberry Croft: Volume 3: July Madness, August Memories, September Longing

July Madness: Donny Banks, Eddie’s brother, is single again and moves in with his mother—again. She’s always been soft with him and let him get away with most anything. But he’s going too far, and she has to stop coddling him.

August Memories: No one knows Al Tanner’s deepest secret. The day of reckoning he always knew would come has finally arrived. He’s ready to take the consequences. But Willow presents him with another option. Dare he hope life could turn out differently?

September Longing: Prudence Merriweather loves hot pink and animal prints, both in her clothing and decor. She’s been dating Carney, a huge trucker, for ages. But his distance in their last phone call makes her wonder where his heart really is.

Elderberry Croft: Volume 4: October Mourning, November Awakening, December Dawning

October Mourning: Andrea and George met at the post office where they both work and love their lives. Andrea’s pregnancy was a surprise, but they’re both looking forward to their baby’s arrival. But Andrea’s past threatens everything. Willow offers to help, but doing so will mean sharing a painful part of her own past.

November Awakening: Doc is a pleasant man who drinks a little too much. But no one knows he suffers from post-traumatic stress which drove him from his wife and daughters. When he finds Willow burning letters in her yard late one night, he recognizes the pain in her eyes and tells his story, hoping to relieve her.

December Dawning: Willow is finally able to face what she was running from. She knows it’s time to start on the long road to healing. But how can she leave this community who has become family to her?

Elderberry Days: Season of Joy is the sequel to the series. Willow finds that reconciliation and facing the tragedy she ran from is just the first step in healing. The road back to wholeness is a long and slow journey. But her friends help her along the way. In-between chapters of this book are recipes for the elderberry treats and remedies that have been mentioned in the books.

Three things stood out to me in these stories. First, ministry to others doesn’t have to be demonstrated in grand gestures or “official” ministry channels. Thoughtfulness and kindness go a long way. Secondly, it can be therapeutic to help other people with their needs, but it’s no substitute for dealing with your own. Thirdly, everyone has a story. Someone who seems eccentric or oddballish may have hidden hurts.

I got the first set of three stories several years ago when it was free for the Kindle. I just recently rediscovered it when looking to catch up with some of my older Kindle volumes. Of course, when I read the first one, I had to continue with the rest of the series. Thankfully, each book was not expensive.

Willow might seem too good to be true from the description, or the stories a little fairy-taleish. But they are not. The characters and story lines are realistically drawn.

One thing I didn’t like, though, is the description that the author’s books include “a bit of magic now and then.” Magical realism was one of the categories for the book. The only way that really came out was in each character perceiving Willow’s scent in a different way, a way that reminds them of something from their past. Also, Willow often seems to know just what to do or what is needed, but she attributes that to God’s guidance as she prayed. If you’ve got the Lord’s guidance and provision, what do you need with magic? But, as I said, the “magic” wasn’t a major part of the story.

The only other negative was that all the books with the same name or similar names were confusing. Then, after I read all four, I discovered the first four books had been put together in one volume under Elderberry Croft: Seasons of the Heart. (which looks like a separate book until you read the description). It would have saved a little money (at least according to the current prices) to have gotten the one volume rather than four different Kindle books.

But other than that, I loved the stories. I had never read Becky Doughty before, but I’d be willing to read some of her other books now. I enjoyed all the characters (though I lost track of who a couple of them were) and story lines and how everything wrapped up.

Review: The Second Half

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The Second Half novel

In The Second Half, a novel by Lauraine Snelling, Ken Sorenson is just about to retire from his university Dean of Students position. He’s looking forward to unstructured days, fishing, and traveling. But office politics threaten the department he spent his career building up and the students he wants it to serve. He struggles leaving all he’s worked for to the office vultures.

Ken’s wife, Mona, has started an event-planning business, which she hopes Ken will help her with when he retires. When a major client considers her services, Mona feels she’s about to get her big break that will establish her company. But Ken is worried that the stress will send her back into the depression that she took so long to recover from. And he keeps talking about traveling. How is she going to work a trip into everything else she has to do?

Then both Ken and Mona get the wind knocked out of them with a phone call from their son. He’s with the Army Special Forces, hoping he’ll get transferred near his parents. Instead, he’s being deployed to Pakistan. His wife left the family, and his parents are the only ones he can ask to take care of his ten-year-old daughter and five-year-old son.

Ken and Mona love their grandchildren, so of course they agree. But not only are their lives and plans are thrown into an upheaval, but they’re not as young as they used to be. Then as the weeks go by, they find that the children have been traumatized by their mother before she left.

On top of everything else, their son doesn’t contact them via Skype from Pakistan at the appointed time. Is he safe?

Lauraine dedicated this novel to all grandparents who have left plans and dreams to take care of grandchildren. “While there are joys as well as hardships and sacrifices, they are gallant people who step up because they love their children and grandchildren, no matter what.”

This story also demonstrates Proverbs 16:9, though I don’t think it’s stated there: “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.”

The plot seems chaotic at first, understandable with all that’s going on. But eventually the family works through the trials and issues and finds the aid they need.

Mona struggles with worry throughout the novel, which is also understandable. But one odd place puzzled me: “She’d never been so shocked as when Pastor Oliver preached on worry and used the word anathema. God didn’t just dislike his children worrying, it was anathema to Him” (p. 28, Kindle version). Though the Bible repeatedly directs us to trust rather than worry, I’m not aware of any passage that uses anathema in connection with worry. Plus, it would have been good to explain the term for readers who might not be aware of it.

But overall, this is a great novel. The characters and struggles are realistic, and the ending wraps up beautifully.

Review: Ladies of the Lake

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In Cathy Gohlke’s novel, Ladies of the Lake, Addie MacNeill is orphaned at age twelve. Her older half-brother sells the family home in Prince Edward Island and ships Addie off to a Lakeside Ladies’ Academy in Connecticut.

Some of the older girls pick on Addie for her newness and different ways. But she surprises herself by finding three dear friends: Dot, Susannah, and Ruth. Eventually they dub themselves the “ladies of the lake” and plan to meet together regularly once they’ve graduated.

When Lucy Laude Montgomery publishes Anne of Green Gables, set in Addie’s beloved PEI, Addie writes to her. The two begin a regular correspondence, and Montgomery encourages Addie in her own writing endeavors.

But trouble stirs when Addie and Dot fall in love with the same young man, Stephen. Over time as he favors one over the other, jealousy and deceit escalate between the girls and ruins their friendship.

WWI is brewing, and Ruth lost her brother in the Lusitania bombing, so she’s prejudiced against Germans. Stephen Meyer and his brother, Jonas, are as American as they come. But their parents still have a heavy German accent. Soon the rest of the community joins in persecuting and ostracizing the Meyers.

Addie is called to Halifax to help her sister-in-law through the end of her pregnancy and delivery. While there, the colliding of two ships sparks the Halifax Explosion, which killed and injured thousands and destroyed homes and buildings. Addie lost her brother and his family and was deeply burned and scarred. Believing that Steven had chosen Dot, Addie decides to change her name to Rosaline Murray and make a new start.

Seventeen years later, Rosaline’s daughter, Bernadette, is about to graduate from Lakeside Ladies’ Academy and dearly wants her mother to come. Rosaline is sensitive about traveling outside of Halifax with her scars. But worse than that, she doesn’t want to face Dot, who is now the headmistress of the Academy.

Dot herself has struggled with secrets for seventeen years now. Believing Addie died in the explosion, Dot has no way to make things right. But when Bernadette starts reminding her of Addie, Dot wonders if Addie could possibly be alive. Could she ever face her again?

Rosaline and Dot resist the things they need to do the most: face each other and confess their wrongdoings and apologize. Their inner torment threatens to hurt themselves and those they love.

I enjoyed this story so much. I loved the characters and how the plot unfolded. The correspondence with Montgomery was a fun element. I had never heard of the devastating Halifax explosion. I loved how the author told it from the standpoint of those affected.

I listened to the audiobook which, sadly, did not contain the author’s end notes. I would have loved to learn more about what inspired the author.

Cathy Gohlke has written another winner that I can highly recommend.