✒️📃 “Letters from My Sister” (2023) 📃✒️ – Book Review

 

MY REVIEW

 

Paperback: 320 Pages
Publisher: Revell (August 15, 2023)
Language: English
ISBN 10: 0800741609
ISBN-13: 978-0800741600
⬅️ Click Photo for Purchase Information

 

“Two Sisters. One Single Event. A Family Changed Forever.
 
 At the turn of the twentieth century, sisters Emmy and Callie Bullock are living a privileged life as the only daughters of a wealthy Alabama cotton farmer when their well-ordered household gets turned upside down by the arrival of Lily McGee. Arrestingly beautiful, Lily quickly--and innocently--draws the wrong kind of attention. Meanwhile, Callie meets a man who offers her the freedom to abandon social constraints and discover her truest self.
 
 After Lily has a baby, Callie witnesses something she was never meant to see--or did she? Her memory is a haze, just an image in her mind of Emmy standing on a darkened riverbank and cradling Lily's missing baby girl. Only when the sisters are separated does the truth slowly come to light through their letters--including a revelation that will shape the rest of Callie's life.”

 

Thank you in advance to the publisher, Revell (a division of Baker Books), for providing a complimentary review copy through their Revell Reads blogger program. A positive review was not required nor requested, and all words are my own.

Historical fiction is not one of my TOP genres to read. And, that’s usually because I have to REALLY be interested in the story. 

 

This is the second book I’ve read by the author, and like that one, it tends to definitely be more fiction. Though, this one has a bit of a slow romance mixed in. This is also a standalone read. 

 

The author introduces readers to:

 

📃 Callie

📃 Emmy

⚠️ Ryder Montgomery (Knox’ twin brother)

📃 Knox (Emmy’s fiancé)

👨🏻‍🌾 Solomon (neighbor, 8 years older than Callie, sweet on her)

🍲 Hepsy (housekeeper and cook for the Bullock family)

🤰🏽 Lily (Hepsy’s granddaughter, 17/18, pregnant, widowed)

🔮 Tirzah (Hepsy’s mother; healer & seer)

 

These are in addition to Callie’s siblings (George, Sam, James, Theo), her parents (Aurelia and Ira), Lucinda (Ryder’s wife), and Camile (Ryder & Knox’ mother).

 

Despite the many diverse characters, the story is only told in third (3^rd) person from Callie’s POV. 

 

The timeline isn’t known until about 76% into the book (with a marriage), which puts the story originating around 1908/1909. The final chapter does take place in 1927. As a result of the location and time period, there will be some references to slavery, racism, discrimination, and the use of the term “colored”. This is authentic to the time period and location the story is taking place in. However, the Bullock family is aware of and don’t deny the difficulties faced by Hepsy, Tirzah, and Lily.

 

Also, the characters of Hepsy and Tirzah believe in as well as practice being seers and healers. These beliefs – according to reviews – did bother some Christian readers who felt it went against the Christian faith, even though Tirzah and Hepsy did seem to praise God. 

 

Some readers might be triggered or traumatized by the recent Covid pandemic and the precautions/restrictions during that time – there is a storyline involving Tuberculosis (T.B) and the precautions used, namely masks.

 

Another part of the story features an off-page murder. 

 

This begins with Callie who is wanting to be delivered from the company of women during the May Day fish fry at the Bullock home. It is during this fish fry that Callie meets Solomon, and they meet Lily. Lily is staying with Hepsy following the death of her husband. 

 

However, not everyone likes Lily – Ryder’s mother for one. She thinks the girl is a floozy, will lead him astray. However, that is not the case. It seems Ryder is obsessed with Lily which causes some tensions between the Montgomerys and the Bullocks. This is why Emmy and Knox, once married, plan to leave. Knox’ family is, in a word, poison. 

 

When Callie and Emmy go for a moonlight swim they see Lily there, and she is trying to get away from Ryder. While hiding her, they learn she is pregnant and staying there until the baby is born. 

 

A month or so after the baby is born, Lily and the baby leave in the middle of the night. This causes an issue for Callie as she wakes up with a hazy memory, and cannot remember what happened that lead to her being found by a tree. 

 

It is at a hotel, under the care of a doctor, that Callie slowly gets snippets of her memory back. Though, she can’t seem to decipher what they mean, and the only one who can answer sent away for her own health struggles. 

 

It is only when Callie returns home, that she finally is able to piece everything together from that night. 

 

Letters from My Sister has a complex plot which was both good and bad. At times, it seemed like it was too complex – Ryder seeking custody of Lily’s baby (the reason is NEVER really explored), Knox and a court case for TB victims, among other small story arcs. With those arcs and all the characters, I think different POVs could’ve been added – especially for perspective. 

 

While this story did draw me in and kept me reading. I didn’t want to put it down because I WANTED to get to the plot. It was one of those “if I keep reading, surely it’ll get there – eventually” things. Unfortunately, it was bogged down by the slow storyline. I was drawn to the blurb which sounded like one of those reads that grabs you, then stays with you. Sadly, that was NOT the case for me. 

 

The main story didn’t really get going until the 50-60% mark with Callie’s hazy memories and the letters. The final letter with the “revelation” was in the final 2% of the book. I was under the impression the book was going to be MULTIPLE letters between the two sisters, thus telling the story from that angle. There were less than five from each sister. So, it was NOT the majority of the book/plot; it was definitely less than half of the book’s total plot. 

 

Lily is introduced about 7% into the book, she has the baby about 41%; then gone around the 50% mark. Between that time, she was not in the story as much as it seemed in the blurb (back cover information). Once she disappears, readers never see her again, though she is mentioned very briefly at the end. 

 

The mystery was a bit of a let-down as well. And, as far as the family being changed by it? Given how close to the end the revelation was – I didn’t see the “change”. I also didn’t see how it shaped the rest of Callie’s life either.  

 

What really helped in somewhat keeping the story moving was the short chapters. The author does have a way of writing and depicting the scenery that one can almost feel like they’re right there. 

 

The murder was an interesting plot arc, and I would’ve liked more expansion on it. Readers don’t get a conclusion until nearly the end and it seems rather anti-climatic. 

 

While there was some humor, and there was a “happy-as-can-be” ending, this was a far sadder read than I’d have liked, especially with multiple deaths. 

 

I didn’t dislike the book, but it wasn’t one of those ones that I’ll be putting high up on my “to be re-read someday” list. It isn’t bad, it just didn’t sweep me away.

 

Fans of the author might enjoy this read. It is a poignant, stirring, gripping, and emotional read that examines different perspectives of life and the complexities of the decisions we make. 

 

It will also have readers examining what Lily says about people helping – while someone people might mean well, they often decide someone’s fate for them, without bothering to ask what it is they want. 

 

Since this is distributed by a primarily Christian publisher, there will be some references to faith, however these are light in comparison to other Christian fiction books. 

 

 

 

RATING: 

 

3 ⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Goodreads 

 

3 ⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Bookbub 

 

3 ⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Personal Rating (see rating explanation in this blog: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2020/01/rating-system-2020-changes.html; update: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2022/07/what-goes-into-my-reviews-2022-edition.html)

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

 

Valerie Fraser Luesse is the bestselling author of Missing Isaac, Almost Home, The Key to Everything, and Under the Bayou Moon. She is an award-winning magazine writer best known for her feature stories and essays in Southern Living, where she recently retired as senior travel editor. A graduate of Auburn University and Baylor University, she lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with her husband, Dave.

 

You can find her on the following social media accounts:

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valeriefraserluessebooks/

 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valerieluesse/

 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoinDownToMamas

 

Website: https://www.valeriefraserluesse.com/

 

 

 

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links