Suspense

Excellent story of a woman who at age 8 witnessed her mother murdering a man. As her mother?s life is coming to an end, she begins to seek an answer to what and why the even occurred. The book tells the lives of each of the people involved as self narratives. The truth is totally unexpected. It brings a peaceful closure to the daughter and mother.

There’s so much to say about this book. This is about family and its importance in the development of children, it’s about teenage girls and how they view themselves and don’t think they will every be old or that their mothers (parents) could possibly understand them. It’s about two women (Vivian and Dorothy) and how they dealt with a traumatic childhood. It’s about Jimmy, a decent man who falls in love with one woman and could have loved the other one too. It is a unique murder mystery as Laurel tries to find out why her mother killed someone. Her mother, Dorothy, is the biggest secret keeper and Laurel was asked to keep a secret when she was 16.

It’s about people living through the war and how it impacted them.

There are several story time lines - from 1941 to 1961 and then the present.

At one point I thought I couldn’t learn another character’s backstory and yet it was critical to all that happened later. Hang in there if you get to that point as it is worth it to keep reading. The ending was definitely a surprise. Lots of twists and turns and great characterization. A book that touched me.

The third book by Kate Morton that I’ve read and each one has impacted my life and way of thinking about others. ( )

I liked it, but it didn't seem to hold the same power as The Lake House or The Forgotten Garden. ( )

One of my favorite books in quite some time. ( )