A gripping novel of enduring love, family secrets, and mysterious death from the bestselling author of Hello Love.Joe Arneson’s ordinary life is upended by troubling dreams of himself as a different man in another place and time. It isn’t until he visits his estranged grandmother, Pearl, in her Wisconsin hometown that a startling connection emerges.Drawn into his family’s past, Joe discovers … emerges.
Drawn into his family’s past, Joe discovers secrets weighing on the old woman’s soul: the tragic death of her sister Alice a half century ago and its ripple effect on all who loved her. Digging into the events of that summer in 1916, Joe is convinced that his recurrent visions relate to Alice’s untimely passing and to the beloved man she meant to marry. With the help of Kathleen, a local woman Joe’s fallen for, the puzzles of the past start falling into place.
As uncovered truths bring Joe and Kathleen closer together, they also reveal a new danger. For Joe’s dreams may be a warning–from one star-crossed couple to another.
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This is an excellent weekend read! Two Thumbs Up
Dovetail by Karen McQuestion is a moving book about a small town in Wisconsin and things that happened back in 1916 and things that are happening currently (1983). The book’s most important character is Pearl, the second daughter in a family that lost its mother and whose father is not coping well. The oldest, daughter, Alice, at about 16 takes on the responsibility of home and raising her six younger sisters and is doing an excellent job. Pearl is just not domestic at all and can’t wait to leave home and have some sort of exciting life away from the dull, expressionless small town of Pullman, Wisconsin. Peal, who is in her eighties is estranged from her son who left home at 18. Off and on she hires a private investigator to find him and his family and keep her abreast of what is going on. Her most current report informs her that her grandson, Joe, is in a mental hospital being treated for what, she is not sure. She arrives there, birth certificates in hand, accompanied by her lawyer and old friend, Howard, to prove who she is and get him released into her custody. He is not sure her likes it but after he talks to his father, her discovers that they want him to go back and submit to electroshock treatments, which her considers totally out of the question, so he decides to stay in Pullman and accept the very generous offer she has made him to empty and ready her home for sale. She is already out and living in a nursing home. His dreams are still happening. Nothing has changed. He still doesn’t know what his dreams mean.
This is a terrific book, although I confess to a feeling of dread closing in for the last third of the book. Joe and his new friend, Kathleen, explore his dreams and being to get answers. Kathleen has her own problems, namely an off-balance and abusive ex-husband, who she believes she has left behind. The two of them develop quite a friendship as they explore the town and its history, especially as it relates to them as both have roots there. As Joe begins to recognize things in his dreams, and discovers the history of his grandmother Pearl, things begin to make sense, in a frightening way. He reconciles with his father, and more importantly, his father reconciles with his own mother, Pearl. It is a frightening story that has no logical explanation, has a bit of the supernatural, yet comes together nicely and solves all kinds of bitterness and animosity. I really enjoyed it. I loved McQuestion’s books for children, only to discover that her books for adults are even better. I recommend it.
I received a free copy of Dovetail from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions and interpretations contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #dovetail
This one grabs you in the first chapter! It is unique in how the author skillfully leads the reader thru two time periods! This is one of those books you will want to read again! It is that good!
I won this book in an online giveaway. All thoughts are my own.
I love everything that Karen McQuestion has written and Dovetail is no exception! Wonderfully set in both 1916 and 1983, Pearl is the glue that holds this story together. Oh, Pearl, I want to dislike you but I also can feel sorry for you and forgive you for your past mistakes. Pearl’s grandson, Joe, has never met his grandmother but trusts that she is really who she says she is when she arrives at the psychiatric institution where he is being held. Joe is having vivid dreams that seem real and Pearl may be able to help him. I love Joe and Kathleen (newcomer and shop owner) and their budding relationship. I love Pearl’s sister, Alice, as well as Ricky. This story has it all: romance, suspense, mystery, murder, self-discovery, and heart. I tend to describe a lot of Karen’s books as heart-warming because she does such a wonderful job at character development and relationships. Multifaceted perfection!
If you are a fan of Karen MCQuestion this will be your next favorite book by her. If you have never read any of her books I can guarantee you that you will read this book, then go out and read all her other books. This book is truly lovely. This author can really tear at your heartstrings and tell a beautiful story. Did not want it to end !
An intriguing tale of family history and loss.
Plagued by vivid dreams, Joe Arneson is admitted to a psychiatric facility by his father and step-mother. Never feeling that he needed therapy, he is still at a loss as to the origin of these dreams of violence and loss. Checked out of the facility by the grandmother he thought was dead, Joe reluctantly goes with her back to her former home in Pullman. As details of her life unfold, he is increasingly convinced that he is not having dreams, but remembering past events that occurred. As more details emerge, he starts to unravel the truth behind what really happened to his great aunt Alice, who died when she was only 19.
Rich character development, and sparkling prose come together into a tale of love, jealously, spite, and murder. Set against the back drop of rural Wisconsin in the 1930s and the 1980s, McQuestion blends past and present into a compelling tale. 5 stars!
Dovetail is an amazingly unique book. It’s written in a style I have never encountered. It is a story of beginnings and memories. It is a story of Kathleen finding herself after a life of being controlled by her husband. It is Joe’s full circle journey to escape his terrifying dreams. It is a story of forgiveness and family. It was a very difficult book to put down, and it has stayed with me long after I read the last page. I highly recommend Dovetail! Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced review copy.
This is a book that kept me turning pages! I will recommend it for years to come.
Can you give the first book you read of the year 5 stars? Well I sat on the review a couple of months, and guess what? No book I have read this year compares! I have read some good books this year, but Dovetail is the book that stands out. Dovetail is the book that has it all. Dovetail is the book I recommend the most.
I am a huge Karen McQuestion fan. (If you aren’t, you need to read this book, you will be.) I always say Hello Love is my favorite book of hers. Dovetail may have changed my mind, that is how good it is. Dovetail has so many elements in it, that are so engrossing. There are love stories, but that isn’t just all. There is mystery, and there is murder, (manslaughter?), there are dual timelines with a character that spans both of them named Pearl that you love to hate and hate to love. There is family drama, and who doesn’t love family drama? There is a woman trying to get a fresh start running away from a life filled with with an abusive husband, one who only wants to find her again.
The story just flows so efffortlessly as all Karen McQuestion novels do. Each of her books just keep getting better. I may have found a new favorite, until her next one comes out…..
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author, and also from Netgalley and the publisher. I thank them all. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. (less)
What a wonderful tale! For about the first half of the book, Dovetail is a very interesting story about Joe and Kathleen and what has brought each of them to Pullman, a small town in Nowheresville, Wisconsin. It’s 1983. Joe has been having disturbing lifelike dreams and is in a mental health facility when the grandmother he has been told is dead shows up and wants him to come to Pullman with her. Sounds better than where he’s at, so he agrees, with reserve and with a lot of questions. Kathleen ended an abusive marriage, but her ex-husband Rickey is determined not to remain an “ex” so the secondhand store and house left to her in her great aunt’s will seems like perfect timing, the opportunity to get away, even though Kathleen has only been to Pullman a few times, knows nothing about running a store and wasn’t that close to her aunt. Joe and Kathleen meet under ordinary circumstances, but there’s nothing ordinary about their reactions to each other. Neither of them is looking for a relationship, but they have an instant, unexplainable attraction: “It was like her entire being said yes at the sight of him.” Chapters alternate between 1983 and 1916, revealing something about Joe’s grandmother Pearl and Kathleen’s great-aunt Edna and their friends and family in Pullman when they were young women.
But then about mid-way through Dovetail goes from being a very interesting story about Pullman and the people in it, both past and present to being a story that is almost magical. All the loose threads start to weave together and everyday events and facts that didn’t seem to mean much suddenly become significant. At this point I was so intrigued I could hardly put the book down. I wanted to read faster and faster – what’s the connection between Joe and Kathleen, what’s Pearl’s secret, what really happened in Pullman in 1916, and how much danger does Ricky present in 1983?
To say any more would give away too much. You need to read it for yourself. Dovetail is a sweet, sweet love story, full of mystery and surprises and intrigue and danger. It’s bittersweet at times Lives are ruined or lost or wasted, friendships ended, and some things can’t be fixed or changed. But there is also love and hope and that sweetness.
Thanks to author Karen McQuestion for providing an advance copy of Dovetail via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. I thoroughly enjoyed Dovetail and highly recommend it.
So many others have reviewed this book much better than I can, but I will say that I don’t typically enjoy books that span generations, but this one pulled me in and didn’t let me go until the end.
Sisters, secrets, love, and everything in between are contained within the covers of Dovetail. Karen McQuestion writes an excellent story and this one is calling your name.
Pick it up and get comfy because you will be ignoring everything until you’ve finished Dovetail.
Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC at my request. All thoughts given are my own.
A young man Joe Arneson, has been plagued, by nightmares of himself in a different time, which had him cry out in his dreams, worrying the people closest to him.
He was put in an institution, to find out what is wrong with him, but when his Grandmother Pearl, estranged from her son, (Joe’s father) finds out he is there, she goes to get him out and to see if he would go with her to work for the summer, clearing out the old ancestral home. Jo did not even know his grandmother was alive as he had always been told she had died.
Intrigued by this challenge and to find out more about his family and what really happened to make his father and Pearl no longer speak to each other, he accepts her job.
Once in the small town, where Joe is helping his grandmother clear out the house and where he meets Kathleen, a young woman who inherited, her great aunts thrift store.
Jo begins to piece together what really happened to his family members and with the help of Kathleen, the story unfolds about two different love stories, one in 1916 and now in 1983.
Great characters and story line, this book kept me reading.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC of this book.
Dovetail is a story that has a dual timeline – 1916 and 1983 where the past merges with the present. Joe has been having horrible dreams but he can’t quite figure out the meaning of them. Joe’s life changes when he is checked out of a treatment center by his grandmother (Pearl) – a grandmother that he was told died years ago. He agrees to work for his grandmother for the summer and gets to know her and some of his family history. As his dreams continue, he starts to sense there is a connection between the present and his grandmother’s past. This story has so many feels – love, heart ache, betrayal and forgiveness to name a few. I really enjoyed this book – thank you to NetGalley and Karen McQuestion for my advanced review copy.
This was a very emotional story that I enjoyed reading very much. I couldn’t put this down I read it as if I was there in 1916 and 1983. Joe Arneson was put in to a facility because he was having nightmares and his parents wanted to get him help. While in this facility called Trendale treatment center he was trying to figure out the nightmares where. One day his grandmother came and took him to her home. She wanted him to clean out the family house and land where she had grown up. Joe also meet a young lady and they become friends and she helps him alot even thought she is fighting her own past that has followed her. it went having to go back to 1916 and then to 1983 how different it was. But there was secrets that came from 1916 to 1983 about things that had happened. Pearl blamed herself for something she didn’t do. Joe was figuring it out everything. I hope you pick up a copy and find out what the end is about. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Karen is extremely fabulous writer and her work is extraordinarily good.
This is a beautifully written love story that moves through the ages as the main characters are reincarnations of their previous lives. Their present lives are not only meant to relive the past but also to uplift the burden on some of the family members and to change their destiny. Even if you don´t believe in reincarnation or life beyond death, the story by itself is really worth reading as it´s full of love, friendship, compassion and respect for other human beings.
Thank you NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Karen McQuestion does an amazing job of mixing the past and the present in such a way that I couldn’t put this book down until I finished it. This was a captivating love story intertwined with the tragedy of the past. I loved the way she grabbed the reader from the very beginning with the unexplained dreams of a confused young man and his quest to distinguish truth from fiction all the while learning about his family in a way he never could have imagined. Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of the ARC and know that this is my true and honest review.
This is a complex story that is so well-written that I hardly realized how complex it was until I got to the end and reflected on it. Then, I decided that it was like a maze, but the author had provided a detailed map for me to follow so I never felt lost or overwhelmed. The secret of the complexity lies in the title because everything “dovetails” together in the end in a way that it all comes together in one beautiful picture of love, loss and forgiveness. Joe Arneson is having visions of what he thinks may be the past and travels to see his grandmother Pearl to try to find out some answers. There, he discovers that there is a multi-dimensional person who has secrets that she is now willing to share, but slowly and methodically. Joe meets and falls in love with a woman named Kathleen and together, they set out to solve the mystery that is his grandmother Pearl and her sister Alice. The past and the present that are portrayed in this book come together seamlessly. I loved the story, although some of the characters were definitely unlikeable. The book was filled with suspense and family drama, like a soap opera but much more well-written. The details flowed from the pen of the author into my mind, enlisting my aid in solving the mystery right along with the main characters. Fans of Karen McQuestion will devour this book. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys dramatic fiction that is filled with mystery and suspense.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”
4.5 Stars!
Wow! This book has a little bit of everything. Family drama, mystery, love and betrayal. This was the first book I’ve read by Ms. McQuestion, and I need to go back and read her earlier books. Her characters were realistic, flaws and all, not expecting our love or forgiveness. The past (1916) and present (1983) timelines go back and forth seamlessly and tie things together honestly. The touch of magical dreams thrown in was perfect touch.
Set in a small town in Wisconsin, Pearl is a feisty, opinionated grandmother. She springs her never met grandson, Joe, out of a mental hospital where he is staying because of his vivid dreams. She takes him to her childhood home and offers him a job for the summer. He becomes friends with Kathleen, who inherited her antique/second hand store from her GreatAunt. There is a instant connection that they can’t explain. But, Kathleen is hiding something.
Now go back to the past. Pearl is a self-centered, head in the clouds, pretty teenager. She wants the finer things for herself and especially her future. Second in line of six girls. Her mother deceased, a loving father and an older sister, Alice, who was born to run a home. When a handsome man comes to work for their father, he has secrets of his own, but much to Pearl’s dismay, he only has eyes for Alice.
Both Kathleen and Alice have unwanted suitors who won’t take no for an answer. These two timelines collide with totally different outcomes. You will cheer for both these couples…one just a little too perfect for me.
I loved the family dynamics… the sibling dynamics, parental interactions and family mystery. I especially loved how Pearl never changed, only aged and softened. Thanks to Ms. McQuestion, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.
This was a curious book. The storyline is in 2 different time periods. I’m always intrigued as to how an author creates a story and this author was very creative. I often think life was simpler in the early 1900’s but this story provides an excellent insight in the role of children of all ages in keeping a household running smoothly.
The story touches on so many emotions from spousal abuse, jealousy, love and heartbreak in both time eras. I recommend this book as you’ll fall in love with the characters.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you likegenerational stories with interesting characters this book is well worth the read.the dual timeline keeps your interest throughout the story.i was fortunate to receive an arc