Month: May 2021

Lizzy Dent has penned a debut novel that hits it out of the park. Birdy Finch decides to take a summer job in Scotland that was intended for a close friend of hers, Heather. Instead of letting the owner know that Heather was turning down the position as sommelier, Birdy decides to pretend she is Heather. She manages to pull it off for a bit, but eventually the facade she’s erected begins to crumble, and Birdy finds herself in big trouble. This was a great read; a novel about friendship and love and being true to yourself.

Martha Hall Kelly has certainly done a well documented amount of research in writing this novel about slavery and the Civil War. The central characters are the seven daughters in the Woolsey family, whose matriarch was Jane Eliza. Jane was horrified after witnessing a slave auction in Charleston, and became a staunch abolitionist, raising her daughters to follow that path as well. Some of the characters are fictional, i.e., Anne-May Watson, the cruel plantation mistress, but her character is based on Kelly’s extensive research. Man’s inhumanity to man is a striking theme throughout; the novel is quite a read at 499 pages, but well worth the effort.

Twin sisters, Fern and Rose are in their 30’s and very close. Although Fern has sensory issues, she manages to be independent working as a librarian and living on her own. Rose is the more stable, married, successful sister. Or is she? When Rose has difficulty getting pregnant, Fern wants to help and seeks a partner she can get pregnant with so she can carry a baby for Rose. She isn’t prepared for making a stronger connection to the man she chooses nor the secrets she unveils about Rose as the long hidden truths from their childhood surface.