An Enticing Story of Family Secrets

There's something about Southern heat and tangled vines wrapped around trees that always seems to add an air of mystery to stories based in the American South. Add in a modern female protagonist who thinks she has created a successful new life for herself and left behind any problematic family issues or disdainful former neighbors, and you have this intriguing book by Susan Crandall. There is quite a bit of melancholy as Tallulah struggles with the need to return to her family home and the instability of family members. Later in the book it is not surprising when she says she made the decision long ago to not have children so that the madness would stop with her. From dealing with anonymous phone calls to her grandmother's home so someone can whisper, "Killers," to realizing it's a mythical promise of endless summers when she lives in coastal California, Lulie/ Taluulah will carry you along on her journey of self discovery. This book might also make readers cast a dubious eye on some of their own glorified or strangely missing family ancestry.