The Soldier's Wife

The Soldier's Wife by Margaret Leroy

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Vivienne de la Mare lives a quiet life on the tiny island of Guernsey with her two daughters, teenager Blanche and young, precocious Millie. She also cares for her aging mother in law, who suffers from dementia. Her husband is fighting for the Allies in England. Vivienne is torn between leaving the island before the German occupation to possibly keep her children safe or staying in familiar surroundings and suffering the consequences. When she spots the tiny ship that has been sent to take her family and many of her neighbors to England, Vivienne makes a snap decision to stay. Within days, Germans planes bomb the opposite end of the island and officers move in to occupy the deserted neighboring home. Frightened, Vivienne tries to keep her family quiet and obey the new rules, but at the same time, against her will, she is drawn towards one of the tall, quiet officers - as he, to her as well. As their affair moves forward, Vivienne is placed under immense stress - trying to keep their attraction quiet, concern over her mother-in-law's declining health, her young daughter's talk of ghosts, and the question of involving herself with the starving victims who are fortifying the island. Can regular people become quiet heroes and sacrifice their own wants and desires to help someone in need?





The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was the first book to wake me up to the appeal and beauty of the Channel Islands. The Soldier's Wife seconds my wish to visit the lovely islands of Guernsey and Jersey.



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Home to Woefield

Home to Woefield: A Novel by Susan Juby

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Prudence, quirky city gal, remains super positive when she finds out her late uncle has left her a scrub farm up in Canada. Dreams of beautiful,organic vegetables and clean compost fill her thoughts. Somehow, Prudence sees past the aging derelict of a house, rock filled fields, and the one sheep, only half shaven. With a name like Woefield Farm, it's an uphill battle. She also finds the good in grouchy Earl, her late uncle's banjo playing, cynical foreman and the young neighbor, heavy metal and gossip blogger Seth, who moves in after his mother and new boyfriend kick him out. When 11 year old, too serious Sara and her Poultry Club prize-winning chickens are looking for attention and a home, Woefield Farm takes on another boarder.

Hilarious thoughts and actions take place! Language can be pretty crude and explicit in places.



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The Ballad of Tom Dooley: A Ballad Novel

The Ballad of Tom Dooley: A Novel by Sharyn McCrumb

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Growing up in mountains of Western MD, I’ve listened to and sang the song, “Hang down Your Head Tom Dooley” by the Kingston Trio many times – never knowing there was truth behind the lyrics. What an eye opener to read McCrumb’s historical and fictional retelling of the tale, but with proven evidence of another main character’s involvement and betrayal.



Handsome, former Confederate soldier Tom Dula (dooley) and the lovely, but married Anne Melton had been attracted to each other since their early teens. Anne, even after marriage to the hardworking farmer, James, continued her dalliance with Tom. When her sociopath cousin, Pauline Foster, appears on the scene looking for work and needing doctor’s care for her “pox”, Anne hires her for room, board and little else, working her from sunup to sundown. Little does she know that Pauline, in her jealousy and contained rage, will set Tom and Anne up for the murder of another Foster cousin, Laura, who only wanted to elope and head to Tennessee with her beloved.



Set in Wilkes County, North Carolina, in the hard years following the War Between the States, fascinating, dry and repetitive in places, and narrated by Pauline and Zebulon Vance, lawyer and former governor assigned as pro-bono counsel to Tom Dula – this novel is an eye-opener.





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The Sweetest Thing

The Sweetest Thing by Elizabeth Musser

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Mary “Dobbs” Dillard and Anne “Perri” Singleton are destined to be great friends, even though their first meeting was not pleasant. Brought together by circumstances during the Great Depression, affluent and socialite Perri still lives in a fairytale world several years after the Black Market crash of 1931. Dobbs’ wealthy Aunt Josie has brought her from her very poor world with her beloved evangelist parents and two sisters in Chicago to Atlanta to attend a prestigious, private school, Washington Seminary. Amidst the fluff of high society, tragedy strikes, and Perri’s father, a banker, takes his own life. Dobbs, who has only known poverty and want, steps in and not only boosters Perri’s spirits but shares her open, exuberant faith and sets out to discover several mysteries in the lovely Atlanta.

Love and loss, faith amidst tragedy, jealousy, abiding friendships, segregation, new beginnings, all have a say in this sweet faith-based historical fiction set during the turbulent times of the Great Depression. Even though bible verses are quoted, the message is never heavy handed. The two main characters are well fleshed out and mature as they learn from each other and I fell in love with the little, outgoing Parthenia.
A bit of history was learned – pop-calling was the rage in the ‘30s, where young men would “pop” in on marriage-aged young ladies, to sit on verandas and drink lemonade and sweet tea during lazy afternoons and evenings.




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The Peach Keeper

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Take a setting in the North Carolina. Throw in a bunch of Southern ladies, an inn, some coffee, a few peaches, a skeleton, a lot of secrets, and some magic and you have The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen. Sweet, silly, and sad in some parts, this novel is a juicy peach in itself.

Wild Willa Jackson, (the high school Joker of days gone by) has settled down and laid her pranks to rest. She's an adult now and a legitimate, respectable, boring owner of a sports store. Her family, once part of the socialite scene, but now disgraced has lived for generations in Walls of Water, NC. The once beautiful family home, The Blue Ridge Madam, is now being restored as an inn by perfect in every way Paxton Osgood, Willa's high school arch-nemesis. Oddly enough, Paxon and Willa's grandmothers had been best friends as girls. As the grounds are dug up near the Madam's only peach tree, a skeleton and a suitcase are found. Will more scandal and secrets hidden for 75 years also be brought to light?



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One Summer

One Summer by David Baldacci

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


David Baldacci does a 180 and writes the story of the Armstrong family - Jack, who is dying of a rare form of cancer and only wants to live through Christmas, his devoted wife Lizzie, who is caring for him at home, teenage daughter Mikki, who can't deal with Jack's illness, 12 year old son Cory, and Jack Jr. - still a toddler and unaware of his dad's impending death. As Jack's body continues to weaken, Christmas Eve arrives - but with more tragedy. Lizzie, on a last minute trip in her van to the pharmacy for Jack's meds, is hit and killed when she runs a red light - broadsided by a snowplow. In despair, Jack prepares to die and allows Bonnie, Lizzie's mom, to take his three children and farm them out to different family members. Alone in a hospice unit all Jack has left is his memories, but then the unthinkable happens - a miracle for Jack. He begins to slowly regain his strength. Although the doctors advise Jack that it's just temporary - no one recovers from the unnamed illness - Jack struggles to recover his life and begins by reclaiming his children and moving back to the beloved childhood home of Lizzie's on the ocean.


Labeled sappy by some readers, One Summer is still a good read - an emotional roller coaster and you will cheer for Jack, a veteran of Afghanistan an Iraq. Fans of Nicholas Sparks and Richard Paul Evans will enjoy this novel. Devoted, die hard fans of his Camel Club mystery thrillers may not be so thrilled....



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A Heart Divided

Heart Divided, A: Heart of the Rockies #1 by Kathleen Morgan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


There's a blood feud between the Caldwells and the Wainwrights over land in the Rockies - land bet and lost in a card game many years ago. Sarah, daughter of the Caldwells and Cord, son of the Wainwrights finally meet in a not so good, painful situation when Cord returns home to help take care of the family ranch and the feud worsens. When Cord puts Sarah under house arrest, anger and revenge turn into interest and attraction. As more and more cattle go missing on the Wainwright farm, more blood is shed and forgiveness seems very remote. How can Cord and Sarah's love remain true and faithful, while all the while their families plot to separate the two?






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October is Family History Month