- Paperback: 400 pages
- Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; Original edition (December 20, 2011)
- ISBN-10: 0062041193
- Source: Publisher
When Chelsea’s grandmother passed away she was devastated. She was incredibly close to Gran and can’t seem to fathom how she and her mother are going to survive without her. Despite this closeness, Chelsea is surprised to learn that she has inherited Gran’s cottage in the Adirondacks, a cottage that has been closed for decades.
In a letter left for her, Gran urges Chelsea to visit the cottage to find out what was so special about this property. She ends up staying the entire summer, discovering a past her grandmother had literally buried years ago. War-time romances, pain, loss, so much she never knew about her grandmother. In the months she spends in that serene cabin, in rediscovering her grandmother, Chelsea also experiences a bit of an awakening herself.
In addition to her grandmother’s journal, she comes across a journal full of her wartime recipes; a true legacy passed on from one generation to another. The recipes are named after influential individuals, including war leaders, actors and more. They range from MacAurthuroni and Cheese to Roosevelt’s Roast, Eisenhower’s Eggs Benedict, and more. (The recipes themselves are included in the bonus material at the back of the book)
The past she uncovers isn’t one that she initially believed should be kept hidden from her family, but with the help of local townspeople and her attractive doctor neighbor, Chelsea learns that some secrets, if they don’t change the present, are better left alone.
Admittedly, the budding relationship that forms between Chelsea and her neighbor, Brandon Yale, is a little too “Nicholas Sparks” for me. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy this book; I really did. Not for the romance, but for the story, the legacy, that Chelsea uncovers in her grandmother’s cottage. As she reads the journal entries, the storyline flashes back to Gran’s youth as the beautiful young bride, Brooke, and that fateful summer of 1942. Like other readers, I found similarities between this book and Sarah Jio’s Violets of March. Fans of multi-generational family sagas will be drawn into this novel, just as I was. Recommended.
Thank you to TLC Book Tours for providing me the opportunity to participate in this tour. Be sure to check out the other stops along the way:
Tuesday, December 20th: Sara’s Organized Chaos
Wednesday, December 21st: A Cozy Reader’s Corner
Thursday, December 22nd: Teresa’s Reading Corner
Monday, December 26th: Ted Lehmann’s Bluegrass, Books, and Brainstorms
Tuesday, December 27th: Amused By Books
Wednesday, December 28th: BookNAround
Thursday, December 29th: Reflections of a Bookaholic
Friday, December 30th: Wandering Thoughts of a Scientific Housewife
Tuesday, January 3rd: Hospitable Pursuits
Wednesday, January 4th: Library of Clean Reads
Thursday, January 5th: Diary of an Eccentric
4 Responses to Review: More than Words Can Say by Robert Barclay