By Way of the Moonlight ~ Review

By Way of the Moonlight

By Elizabeth Musser

Oh My!! This book is an emotional rollercoaster. There are moments of triumph and then extreme sorrow. I totally needed tissue while reading this book, which I was not expecting. This is one of those books you just can't put down, so I was glad I had picked a weekend in which to read it.

By Way of the Moonlight is a split-time work Dale Butler was born in the 1920s to a family of means and inherited her mother's love of horses. This love brought with it some of her most memorable moments in her life, some of joy and some of sorrow. This love was later passed on to her granddaughter Allie Massey.  But Allie has recently lost her grandmother, and in an unexpected twist, the family farm that she expected to take over has been lost to her. With her dreams in shambles, Allie won't give up on trying to keep the farm and home she planned her whole life around, even to the point of driving away the man she loves. But she is sent on a journey by her grandmother, a journey of discovery. Can she discover who Nana Dale really was before everything is gone forever?

I wanted to read this book when I first saw the cover - it promised something rich. I just didn't realize just how rich a story it would reveal. Most of Dale's story is told in snippets from 1931 to 1943, while Allie's story is set in 2020. The similarities in their stories are interesting as the differences. Both are driven to the point of obsession in their pursuit of what they want, and it has a definite effect on their relationships with those around them, and it is not necessarily a positive effect. 

I love the historical attributes of this book. German U-boats off the Eastern Atlantic Coast are not something one has heard too much about, certainly not in any of the history books I ever had. In my opinion, this would be an excellent book club selection, and the discussion questions in the back would make for a good discussion starter.

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book with no expectations but that I provide my honest opinion ~ all thoughts I expressed are my own.

About the Book:

Two courageous young women, tied together by blood and shared passion, will risk everything to save what they love most.

For as long as she can remember, Allie Massey, a gifted physical therapist, has dreamed of making her grandparents’ ten-acre estate into a trauma recovery center using equine therapy—a dream her grandmother, Nana Dale, embraced wholeheartedly. But when her grandmother’s will is read, Allie is shocked to learn the property has been sold to a developer.

Decades earlier, headstrong Dale Butler’s driving passion is to bring home the prized filly her family lost to the Great Depression, but with World War II looming, she’s called upon in ways she never could have imagined. And while her world expands to include new friends and new love, tragedy strikes close to home one fateful night during the Battle of the Atlantic, changing her life forever.

As Nana Dale’s past comes to light in Allie’s search for answers, Dale’s courage and persistence may be just what Allie needs to carry on her grandmother’s legacy and keep her own dreams alive.

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"Lush and romantic prose uplifts this affecting tale that celebrates the hard-won wisdom of elders. This is perfect for book clubs." Publishers Weekly

“Musser delivers yet another emotional escape.”—Julie Cantrell, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Perennials

“The characters in this touching double story stayed with me long after ‘the end.’ One of the best novels I’ve read this year.”—Lynn Austin, author of Long Way Home

“Elizabeth’s signature artistry as a storyteller dazzles in By Way of the Moonlight. Brimming with impressive historical detail, here is a story to remind us all that we can honor the past and still bravely embrace the future.” –Susan Meissner, bestselling author of The Nature of Fragile Things