Strong Southern Tale

filled star filled star filled star filled star star unfilled
kpreston Avatar

By

Historical Fiction set in the south is one of my guilty pleasures and this one did not disappoint. Tallulah is a precocious young girl who doesn't understand the racism of her world, why her mother doesn't want to be a mother, her father's hurricanes and shadows, or why her beloved older brother is pulling away.

Alternating between young Tallulah and 20 something Tallulah we get to see how her family is torn apart and how she escapes. Along the way we get our hearts broken right along with her time and time again. We root for her, we sympathize with her when she sabotages a relationship because she is afraid of emotions, and we cheer and fall in love with her all over again when she finally goes home and allows herself to start the slow process of healing. We hold our breath when she goes to visit Walden and feel for her when the depth of his brainwashing is revealed. We hold our breath when she makes the phone call to Dharma and grit our teeth in anger. We hold our breath with her when she finally hears from Griff and again when she sees him for the first time in a decade.

The writing is beautiful, the setting's are well fleshed out so you feel like you can really see what they see. The characters are all flawed and it was interesting to see how all four kids reacted to and dealt with their parents fights and the deterioration of the family.

Thank you to the publishers for my copy of this book. A beautifully sad story.