Inspired by real, hundred-year-old love letters.My great-grandmother’s name is bold across the cream envelope, now golden at the seams with age. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen graceful, purposeful handwriting with a fountain pen and not the hasty scrawl of ballpoint.Alice Hirshhorn, Astoria Hotel, Seattle Washington.“Letters to Great-grandma Alice,” I say with wonder, tracing my fingers … Alice,” I say with wonder, tracing my fingers over the faded postmark and foreign stamps.
December 1915. Philippine Islands.
I turn the thick envelope in my palm, slide out the tightly folded pages, and unfold the thin paper, taking care not to tear the letters that were important enough to keep for a century.
My dearest Alice
“Great-grandpa was in the Philippines?” I ask.
“Oh no. Not your great-grandfather,” answers Grammie, her eyes twinkling with her mother’s secrets. “Elliott.”
~~~
At thirty-three and with her future unclear, Ali Waller finds her way home again. A box of long-forgotten love letters written to her great-grandmother holds the unlikely key to Ali finding her new path.
As she tracks down the letter writer and his descendants, Ali learns the magic of love, hope, and resilience.
Told by three characters, and across century and an ocean, Genealogy is an enchanting story about love and loss, taking chances, and embracing the surprises that life brings.
A twelve-question discussion guide is included, making Genealogy a perfect choice for your book club or a buddy read.
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I don’t usually read love stories but I really enjoyed this. There is a lot of history and it is told in a unique way. This is so well written and the characters are well drawn. I enjoyed the accurate depiction of Seattle. Fun read.
Generational love story. Let the great grandkids finish what the great grandparents started.
Well written and interesting premise, but second part went sappy and predictable.
This novel has a very different twist on genealogy. When a young women finds love letters belonging to her great grandmother, I expected it to be from the man she would marry. Not the case. It was an old boyfriend instead. She does go looking for his family and has some interesting finds. The ending was so predictable, it was kind of disappointing.
Wonderful book, but confusing at times with the back and forth between the seekers and the past characters.
I really enjoyed the story. And I was pleasantly surprised to discover, at the end, that the author had based it on actual letters she had found.
Absolutely loved this book. Very well written.
I found the format of using the thoughts and actions of characters in the WWI era with the present day to be fascinating. As an amateur genealogist I was inspired by the process Ali used to delve into the past of her great-grandmother. The romantic aspect was also captivating.
Enjoyed the history and romance in the book. I’m a huge genealogy buff so enjoyed the family dynamic through several generations!
well worth a read.
Different from most of the romantic reads out there. Loved it.
I wasn’t sure about this book at first but it turned into sheer delight. Loved the time-interwoven story. Well done, vastly interesting, and definitely one to reread.
Didn’t care for this one at all!
Goo0d story idea, but sometimes moved very slowly.
The author did a very good job of story-telling!
Kept my interest
I really enjoyed this book. It was a generational book and it was really interesting.
Informative due to the tracing of one’s ancestry, romantic just a little, enough to give you a taste, characters are down to earth, just wanted to find Elliott and not let him go, even though she did, and I don’t blame her. It was still good reading about different cities.
I enjoyed this book with a peek at the lives of people in a different generation. A very easy read that kept my attention. No violence or steamy sex, simply a sonderful way to spend winter reading days
It was an interesting story and you could imagine it happening