The Favorite Daughter by Patti Callahan Henry

June 10, 2019

If you start Patti Callahan Henry’s latest novel, The Favorite Daughter, and it feels as if it’s just another runaway bride story, hang in there. While the first sixty pages may seem familiar, the rest of the book will break your heart. It’s a story...

Fifty Things That Aren’t My Fault by Cathy Guisewite

May 12, 2019

What better day than Mother’s Day to review Cathy Guisewite’s Fifty Things That Aren’t My Fault? The essay collection, like Guisewite’s “Cathy” cartoons, is filled with family relationships and guilt. It’s subtitled...

The Rain Watcher by Tatiana De Rosnay

October 23, 2018

I hate to repeat the words that appear on an ARC (Advanced Reader’s Copy). But, Tatiana De Rosnay’s latest novel, The Rain Watcher, truly is heartbreaking. It’s an emotional book about one family, caught up in their own secrets at a time of...

Beach House Reunion by Mary Alice Monroe

May 19, 2018

For a while, Mary Alice Monroe wrote one of her Beach House books every five years. I’ll admit, it always took time for me to remember the family and the relationships. Fortunately for those of us who love to go back to the Isle of Palms, Beach House...

The Lemonade Year by Amy Willoughby-Burle

March 28, 2018

Sometimes, it’s the voice. Amy Willoughby-Burle’s novel, The Lemonade Year, introduces Nina Griffin, a narrator with a philosopher’s voice, a poet’s voice, the voice of a woman struggling to find her place in the world.  It’s just...