Overview

From the national bestselling author of Whistling Past the Graveyard comes a moving coming-of-age tale set in the tumultuous sixties that harkens to both Ordinary Grace and The Secret Life of Bees.

Tallulah James’s parents’ volatile relationship, erratic behavior, and hands-off approach to child rearing set tongues to wagging in their staid Mississippi town, complicating her already uncertain life. She takes the responsibility of shielding her family’s reputation and raising her younger twin siblings onto her youthful shoulders.

If not for the emotional constants of her older brother, Griff, and her old guard Southern grandmother, she would be lost. When betrayal and death arrive hand in hand, she takes to the road, headed to what turns out to be the not-so-promised land of Southern California. The dysfunction of her childhood still echoes throughout her scattered family, sending her brother on a disastrous path and drawing her home again. There she uncovers the secrets and lies that set her family on the road to destruction.

Review

Tallulah just saw the news. She cannot believe it. Her little brother is being accused of murder. She must get home. Even though she has not seen him, or anyone in her family for years, she knows she must go back to Mississippi and face her past.

I love Tallulah. And I really do not know how to describe her. She has been hurt and is a damaged woman, especially when it comes to relationships. But, she is a character that loves with all her heart.

Tallulah had some hard times as a child. Her father suffered from a mental illness and her mother disappeared and reappeared so many times in her young life. Tallulah, her older brother, Griff and her southern bell grandmother did all they could to keep the family together. This is an emotional roller coaster of a story. Many places were hard to read and you just wanted to reach through the pages and give this family a helping hand.

As most of you know, I am a HUGE fan of southern fiction. Susan Crandall is spot on! Her southern characters and her descriptions of Mississippi, are all true to form! Plus, and this is a huge plus, Susan Crandall has the best prose! I know I am not supposed to quote an ARC. And it tells you right at the beginning of this book not to quote…well, I am still gonna do it. “Memories as thick as the air and mud and secrets of our Mississippi childhood sit heavy on my skin.”

DO NOT MISS THIS ONE!

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