People disappear but the feelings remain. Love remains.
Controlling Shelly Fagan is a riveting romance novel wherein the main character must come to terms with her past. A past that was controlled by her parents during a generation in which social mores dominated women and were at times painfully enforced. The idea young women of the 60’s had so little control over their destinies is stunning … had so little control over their destinies is stunning and with Dunn’s superb writing, the reader will be swept away in this intense journey of love, self-discovery, and forgiveness.
Raised in a small Indiana town where her father was the mayor, Shelly gave her heart and her innocence to her brother’s best friend. Suddenly she found her world collapsing around her and was forced to grow up very quickly in the midst of the Vietnam War.
Jump to 1986. Shelly is married to the father of her two young sons. She unexpectedly comes face to face with the truth when she discovers her parents lied—betrayed her when she was just seventeen. Now Shelly is left trying to piece her life back together knowing nothing is how it seemed.
Does Shelly go on with her life as it is or as it was? Can she ever forgive her parents who cheated her out of a life with the one she so passionately loved?
A captivating, unforgettable love story, Olive Dunn restores glory to the romance genre with this intense and provocative debut novel. Grab your copy today and be transported back to 1967— a year of music, sex, freedom, laughter, love, and Vietnam.
more
Holy crap this book was heart wrenching! This book was very well written and beautifully put together even if it did leave me feeling sucker punched to the gut. I still feel like I am reeling in an emotional state. This is a fantastic story as a debut novel. I have high hopes for any new stories this author writes.
A very emotional story. Very well written. The characters are people you grow to care about as you read the story. Looking forward to more from this author!
Great book with a lot of twists and turns. It gives you an idea of what life could be like in 1967 the year i was born. The story itself was heartbreaking at times. I will definitely look forward to seeing more from this author.
Controlling Shelly Fagan…
Man I’m honestly lost for words on this book. While reading this book I experienced so many emotions; heartache, sorrow, fury, love, and most of all forgiveness. Reading this book gives women an idea of just how far we have come to be the modern bunch of free women that we are. We are no longer held down by the ideas that we should only be housewives, seen but not heard, and our hardest job would be taking care of the house.
I don’t want to give away too much of this story. But when readers start to read this book they really should put themselves in the mindset and understand how women’s roles have changed throughout history. How Shelly Fagan’s journey was what is was because of the time period she grew up in, as well as the choices her own parents had to make given how they grew up, especially her mother, in an even more suppressed time.
This book does flop between “present” (and by present time I’m talking 80’s) and the past (the 60’s). Shelly’s journey to accepting what has happened in her life and learning to forgive the choices that were left out her control is a heart-retching reading experience.
I would definitely be sure you keep some Kleenex around while reading this one!
First things first, You need at least 2 boxes of Kleenex’s when reading this book. This story begins in the sixties as we meet young Shelly Fagan, watching her grow up, fall in love and then watch her life fall out from under her. My feelings went smiling and laughing to hating certain people, crying when lives were torn apart, bawling when others were abused , crying again when love is re-found. But there are more feelings to come but you the reader must find these out for yourself. Olive Dunn has beautifully written a book, that makes you think, feel, want, hope, wonder, cry,and laugh. It touches you in a way that I have never seen before. Thank you for this wonderful book.
This is not my typical genre. I read a few contemporary romances or historical once in awhile. I remember why because some of them make me cry. I dont like crying…its not pretty! This story was f’in fabulous and it made me cry and it broke my heart and sent me on a freaking emotional roller coaster! I’m a very emotional person which is why I dont read many of these types of books. Okay…that said I loved it. This is a book about a woman who grew up from the 60s to 80s and honestly it was sooo historically accurate! Not many authors take the time to do that and it wasnt over the top either like it can seem. It was just an awesome book and I cant get over how much I loved it even if it made me ugly cry! I completely and utterly recommend it and its a long book too. Longer than my normal so it took me a bit to finish it. It was also sweet and romantic. Shelly just holds a special place in my heart because let me tell you she went through the washboard backwards like more than once…I dont see how she came out of that. She’s a special character. Sooo thank you Olive Dunn…I kinda love you and hate you haha. XO
Controlling Shelly Fagan by Olive Dunn is a gut wrenching, heartbreaking and emotional book to read. It definitely is not for the faint of heart. It was a tough book for me to read. I don’t know how many times I would pick up the book to continue to read where I left off only to put it back down to give myself time to wrap my head around the story. Olive Dunn captivates you with the characters in the story. I was drawn into the story and felt like I actually living it through her words. At several points I cried, like ugly cry because I don’t know how Shelly could have been put through all that and come out sane. I know that there were many times where I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest and my hands were shaking but I needed to know what was going to happen. Some things I was not expecting to happen and caught me off guard. I kept asking myself why? Why did you go down this path Shelly? What do you think will happen? Will Shelly get her happily ever after? Does she forgive who she needs to? Will she be reunited with her family? Does she finally let go of her past? So many questions and some get resolved and others don’t.
I can’t tell you how Shelly’s story unfolds, but I can tell you is that if you want to know what it was like in the 60’s then you need to read this. Make sure you have tissues on hand. I feel so torn and heartbroken at the moment that I am still trying to take in the story. The only thing I wished for was to know if her daughter ever contacted her. I can honestly say that I am glad I read this book. THIS BOOK IS A HIDDEN GEM AND A MUST READ.