Synopsis

Rural Michigan, 1934

When her new husband Sam perishes in a bizarre farm accident, would-be milliner Polly soon becomes the prime suspect in his murder. As she digs for evidence to clear her name, Polly falls into a sinister web implicating her in a nefarious crime ring being investigated by White House Police. Polly’s life and those of her family are at stake.

Narrated by Polly, her self-righteous older sister, Sarah, and Sarah’s well-meaning, but flawed husband Wesley, a Methodist minister, the story follows several twists through the landscape of the rural Midwest.

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Review

The Great Depression was a tough time for many with no jobs, food scarcity, and the possibility of becoming homeless. The story encapsulates what it was like for this group in Marshall, Michigan, and what they endured to make sure their family was fed and they were kept safe.

This story is told from three points of view: Polly, her sister Sarah, and Sarah’s husband Wes. It is amazing how their views were very different on various things. We also learned how human each character was and they all had their own flaws that defined them as a character. At first, we mostly see it from Sarah and Wes’ point of view and what we see from Polly is letters to her mother. It is easy to form a negative impression of Polly from what we learn from Sarah. But I don’t think she was far off the mark and Polly was a spoiled child growing up and while only twenty, it doesn’t seem like much has changed even if she is married. However, married life is not all it is cracked up to be for Polly and we slowly learn about her husband Sam and his anger management issues. Sam is not a character anyone will like.

The mystery portion is from several different angles – how did Sam die? Who are these men that claim to be with the government? What are they searching for? They all do eventually tie together and you might be able to figure out part of the answer. I know I suspected one thing and found out I was right near the end.

While the story is primarily about Polly, we really do learn a lot about Sarah and Wes and how their lives have gotten to this point, and their thoughts and feelings about everything. I do feel like they felt the stress of this time with little money and trying to do their best to take care of their families. My thoughts about Polly changed as the book progressed and she started to grow up and realize that life isn’t what she thought and perhaps she needed to be more gracious. Sarah has a bit of a learning curve towards Polly as well, and we see how much her frustration with her sister over past events slowly changes.

I really enjoyed this book and learned a few things about the depression and how times were back then. I had just learned about Decoration Day from my spouse’s family and it was interesting to see it mentioned in this book. If you aren’t familiar with this tradition, it is when families visit the cemeteries and leave flowers and such on the graves of their family members. Having just found some graves of ancestors in a cemetery that is pretty much abandoned, it is important that these places don’t become lost.

This is a wonderful historical novel and we give it 5 paws up.

About the Author

Charlotte Whitney grew up on a Michigan farm and often heard stories about the difficult years during the Great Depression. Her debut historical novel Threads: A Depression Era Tale has attracted over 400 reviews on Amazon. Charlotte’s previous work includes two nonfiction books and a romance novel, I Dream of White.

Charlotte lives in Tucson with her husband and two Labrador retrievers.

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