By Michelle Cox
This is a story of mistakes, secrets, regrets, and missed opportunities. This is a story of family, of mothers and daughters, of what binds us together and what tears us apart.
Told from the viewpoints of Gertie and her daughter Nora, we are given a unique look into one family's life. A life defined by a single decision and the decisions that followed after.
At seventeen years of age, Gertie Gufftason wanted to see more of the world, wanted more than what her small mining town could offer. She allows her head to be turned by a carnie who expertly manipulates her until she realizes far too late the mistake she has made. But Gertie is proud and refuses to leave the man she married or to seek help.
When Lorenzo loses his life, Gertie has to support her young family, her two daughters Nora and Patsy. This struggle keeps her often away from home as she struggles to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads. Once again Gertie is tricked by a man who isn't who he claimed to be and this time it costs her her daughters.
The Park Ridge School for Girls is awful in Nora's initial opinion, and poor Patsy can never do the right thing in the eyes of the woman "in charge" of their cabin. As the years go on, Nora determines to raise herself above the woman she believes her mother to be. Patsy never gives up hope of what the world can and should be.
This is a story that has moments that will break your heart, especially when one thinks of what could have been. But as Nora once reflected if all this turmoil hadn't come into her (and their) lives what they eventually had would not have been. But the relationship Nora desired and longed for with her mother was lost in the disappointments. Until she discovers the truth behind her mother's past - the secret that helped set everything in motion.
Gertie's naivete at times just astounded me. But then I remind myself that her upbringing was so different from today's. The news was probably very limited in the town she grew up in - it was local doings or major world events, like unrest in Europe. But that assumes she listened to it on the radio or someone who read it in a newspaper shared it with her. This was a time when instant anything wasn't part of the day-to-day norm.
Now this book most definitely drifts into the adult category with some of the subject matter and some language. This isn't to say that it wasn't a good read or that you should avoid it, but rather, it is something to be aware of when picking this book up. Compared to some popular works, it is considered extremely tame.
I was provided a complimentary copy of this book with no expectations but that I provide my honest opinion. All thoughts expressed are my own.
About the Book:
When eight-year-old Nora arrives at the Park Ridge School for Girls in 1932, she is sure there’s been some mistake. She can’t imagine why she and her little sister, Patsy, were torn from their mother only to be subjected to the cruel whims of the house matron, Mrs. Morris. When their mother fails to rescue them week after week—and Mrs. Morris drops hints that their mother may be a “fallen woman”—Nora begins to doubt they will ever see her again. Nine years prior, at seventeen, Gertie Gufftason runs off with Lorenzo, the barker for the traveling carnival passing through her small coal-mining town in Southern Iowa. Thinking she is embarking on a fantastic adventure, Gertie is bitterly disappointed by the life that follows and is thrown into despair when the State removes their two daughters. Gertie eventually tracks down her girls at the Park Ridge, but, expecting a warm welcome, she is shocked by Nora’s cool reception. Nora reluctantly returns home with Gertie and Patsy, determined to live a more perfect life than her mother.
It is only when she discovers a secret Gertie has kept hidden all these years that Nora begins to fully understand—and forgive—her mother’s tragic choices . . .
"A compelling, poignant story of mothers, sisters, and daughters"— Kate Quinn, New York Times best-selling author"An addictive read!"—Kirkus Reviews
"A compelling, poignant story of mothers, sisters, and daughters"— Kate Quinn, New York Times best-selling author"An addictive read!"—Kirkus Reviews
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