Author: Annie Barrows
Pages: 528
Published: 2016
Genre: Historical Fiction
Edition: Paperback
Source: Library
Description: In the summer of 1938, Layla Beck’s father, a United States senator, cuts off her allowance and demands that she find employment on the Federal Writers’ Project, a New Deal jobs program. Within days, Layla finds herself far from her accustomed social whirl, assigned to cover the history of the remote mill town of Macedonia, West Virginia, and destined, in her opinion, to go completely mad with boredom. But once she secures a room in the home of the unconventional Romeyn family, she is drawn into their complex world and soon discovers that the truth of the town is entangled in the thorny past of the Romeyn dynasty.
At the Romeyn house, twelve-year-old Willa is desperate to learn everything in her quest to acquire her favorite virtues of ferocity and devotion—a search that leads her into a thicket of mysteries, including the questionable business that occupies her charismatic father and the reason her adored aunt Jottie remains unmarried. Layla’s arrival strikes a match to the family veneer, bringing to light buried secrets that will tell a new tale about the Romeyns. As Willa peels back the layers of her family’s past, and Layla delves deeper into town legend, everyone involved is transformed—and their personal histories completely rewritten. (via Goodreads)
Thoughts: I read this as a library book club read and honestly while I liked aspects of the book, it was kinda meh. Maybe it was that I had greater expectations of this book, but felt that the book took way too long to get any sort of momentum. I personally liked Layla's storyline more than Willa's and wished more of the book focused on that.
Bottom line: I found the book to be meh at least for me, but it could be for someone who enjoys these family drama books. Overall, it was a pretty decent book, not just one to my tastes. Recommended.
Rating: 2.75/5
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