ABOUT THE BOOK:
Althea Bell is still heartbroken by her mother’s tragic, premature death—and tormented by the last, frantic words she whispered into young Althea’s ear: Wait for her. For the honeysuckle girl. She’ll find you, I think, but if she doesn’t, you find her.
Adrift ever since, Althea is now fresh out of rehab and returning to her family home in Mobile, Alabama, determined to reconnect with her estranged, ailing father. While Althea doesn’t expect him, or her politically ambitious brother, to welcome her with open arms, she’s not prepared for the chilling revelation of a grim, long-buried family secret. Fragile and desperate, Althea escapes with an old flame to uncover the truth about her lineage. Drawn deeper into her ancestors’ lives, Althea begins to unearth their disturbing history…and the part she’s meant to play in it.
Gripping and visceral, this unforgettable debut delves straight into the heart of dark family secrets and into one woman’s emotional journey to save herself from a sinister inheritance.
READ AN EXCERPT:
MY REVIEW:
Burying the Honeysuckle Girls by Emily CarpenterMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Burying the Honeysuckle Girls by Emily Carpenter is a 2016 Lake Union publication.
Wow, I got more than I bargained for with this novel!
The southern backdrop is perfect for this atmospheric tale of family secrets and retribution.
Althea has no idea what is in store for her when she returns home after a stint in rehab. Her brother is running or office and her power hungry sister-in-law will stop at nothing to see Althea does nothing to mess that up. But the most disturbing thing for Althea is seeing her Alzheimer’s ridden father in such a bad place and his horrible reaction to seeing her again.
But, she really gets a shock when she discovers that her upcoming thirtieth birthday is a milestone in more ways than one and she could be about to inherit a terrible legacy that has been passed down from generation to generation on her mother’s side.
In order to break that chain and discover the truth about what really happened to her mother and grandmother, Althea must stay one step ahead of her own family.
This is an incredible debut novel that held my attention from start to finish. The story flips back and forth between the present and the past, telling the troubling story of Althea’s grandmother back in the 1930’s alongside Althea’s present day struggles.
There is a definite race against time element in both threads and a real heart pounding sense of dread, mingled with the mystery and drama.
The story is both sad and utterly horrifying. The author does a terrific job of defining the characters, of creating a dark, emotionally taut force, and adding just a tiny pinch of Southern Gothic to top it off.
Overall, this book was a major surprise for me. I’m so glad I took a took a chance on this one in the Kindle store!!
GET YOUR COPY HERE:
https://www.amazon.com/Burying-Honeysuckle-Girls-Emily-Carpenter-ebook/dp/B017LGAKEG/
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ABOU THE AUTHOR:
EMILY CARPENTER, a former actor, producer, screenwriter, and behind-the-scenes soap opera assistant, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Auburn University. Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, she now lives in Georgia with her family. BURYING THE HONEYSUCKLE GIRLS is her first novel. You can visit Emily online at emilycarpenterauthor.com.
