carolesrandomlife

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life.

I decided to read this book up because the synopsis sounded interesting. I really had no expectations since I have never read any of this author's work before and really hadn't heard anything about this book. I am glad that I decided to pick it up because it turned out to such a nice story. I was pulled into the story right away and really was eager to see everything work out for the characters. I was able to predict some parts of the story but I still really enjoyed the journey.

This was a book that was told in two timelines that focus on two women, Alice and Dovie. Dovie is trying to move on after her fiance committed suicide. She spends a lot of time at the cemetery trying to come to terms with her loss. She happens to see an older woman leave a letter at another grave and feels compelled to take the letter to read. Her life soon becomes intertwined with the older woman and learning the events of the past.

Alice's story is told through her letters. Alice wrote a series of letters prior to her death that were left at her grave in the cemetery where Alice's fiance is buried. These letters eventually come to be in Dovie's possession and she shared them with Alice's mother slowly over a period of time. As Alice's story unfolds, my heart broke for her and everything that she went through.

I think that the dual timelines worked well in this book. I really liked that letters were used to tell the story of the past and thought that it made the book flow nicely. Dovie and Alice both were wonderful characters. Dovie learns not only about Alice's past but some truths about her own as the story moves forward. By the end of the book, Dovie was almost like a new person. She had really come to terms with a lot and had helped her new friends do the same.

I would recommend this book to others. The story was one that has stayed with me. It was a book full of pain and grief but also of friendship, love, and learning to move forward. This is the first book by Barbara Davis but I look forward to checking out some of her other work in the future.

I received an advance reader edition of this book from Berkley Publishing Group via First to Read.

Initial Thoughts
Nice story even though it was somewhat predictable.