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 … 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.
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5 stars. I really enjoyed this book! Update: I had to change my lower rating, (which was a good rating), but I haven’t been able to get this story out of my mind. It’s so full of amazing characters and I am haunted, in a good way, by this book. (Months later). This is definitely worth your time if you love mystery, suspense, historical fiction and even slightly gothic. (I happen to love gothic) 🙂 .
Meet Thea, home from rehab, trying to see her father. Feel the heat, the languid moves, the proper ways of the elite in the south. Thea is an embarrassment to her brother Wyn as he and his wife have plans, big political plans. And theres nothing worse than Thea showing up like poor white trash.
Her family tries to convince her that she needs to be committed as her mother, and her mother before her were…….they all went a bit nutty at the age of 30…..and Thea is turning 30.
You feel the old south rising up as Jinn, the first is turning thirty and dealing with issues of race, husbands beating wives, money, rights and dreams. Because even way back, women dreamt of living lives as equals, of being able to speak up, and being happy. You hold your breath and hope the old stories saying Jinn escaped and moved on to build a new life selling her honeysuckle wine is true.
Thea is a strong woman in need of answers about Jinn and down to why each mother down to Thea’s mom died in a mental institution. There is Jay, from her past, that tries to help her find answers or does he really believe her stories.
This a a southern novel of women in one family, over generations, being subjected to the rules of their men or be institutionalized. The story is strongest when Jinn speaks …..listen to her.
The ending is all right, but the story is weakest when discussing Dove and her motives…..i couldn’t like Dove…all that went wrong because of her again and again.
If you enjoy a bit if sweet tea, southern gossip, and old stories, then you’ll enjoy this…
At first this was hard for me to get into, but once I got into it, it kept my attention.