From the author of the bestselling Sweeney Sister Series and Sweet Tea Tuesdays comes a new novel of passion, intrigue and redemption. Ellie Pringle has spent endless hours and countless dollars working with a therapist to remember the lost years of her childhood. She’s baffled and more than a little intrigued when the grandmother she hasn’t seen in thirty-four years dies and leaves her a … her a fortune. The time has come to face her past in person. Still reeling from a recent breakup of a long-term relationship, and with nothing to keep her in San Francisco, Ellie packs her meager belongings and boards a plane for the South Carolina Lowcountry.
Standing in the entryway of her grandmother’s antebellum home on South Battery Street in Charleston, Ellie faces the first of many ghosts who will soon haunt her. On her first night in the creepy, creaking mansion, as she’s perusing the titles in a dusty bookcase, she comes across her deceased mother’s leather-bound journal. Her mother’s words create more unanswered questions and send her on a quest to find more journals. As Hurricane Lorene bears down on the South Carolina coast, Ellie encounters Juan Hagood, a handsome architect who has the talent to restore her dilapidated mansion and the charm to mend her broken heart. But as Ellie reads her mother’s diaries, they dislodge a stone in the wall that safeguards her memories, causing her world to come crumbling down. Revelations about her childhood lead Ellie on a harrowing journey of discovery. The sequel, Beyond the Garden, releasing in April 2018, will hold you spellbound until the dramatic conclusion.
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Liked the story, and the characters.
Being a “grits” girl raised in the south, I love reading books set in my part of the country where I know the area. This was a great read. You could imagine the heat, humid ity, the smells as the descriptions are so vivid.
I loved it –I visited Charleston once, so had an idea of how things looked there ,which made it more interesting. I loved hearing about all the old buildings –and tried to imagine what it would be like to live in one and have the money, to restore it or make it over some. Loved the story itself, it was very good –and interesting –got some surprises as it moved along–and begin to think, okay, whats next?? Very Good.
A good story, if a little predictable and slightly corny. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed reading it, but it was a little too tidy.
I truly loved this book! An original story with characters you could believe in and get behind. Well done, with some surprises and good development of both the story and the characters! Have recommended it to friends, who enjoyed it as much as I did.
Easy -to-read…kept me interested! Sad story that ends well. All the characters were pretty self absorbed, Ellie, rightfully so, because of her tragic childhood, except Julian and Maddie, loved their characters. Had to chuckle every time, it was time to eat!! Their menus were not ordinary fares! This would be a great beach book…working-on-the-tan afternoon read !
Looking forward to the squegel!
Lame ending. Almost like the ending was written by someone else. Or a rushed finish. Should have given the twin sister depth and a basis for her character. Disappointed.
I’d have given this 4 stars as I enjoyed the book BUT the ending was a slap in the face! Just as you enjoy the characters and think how this is getting even more entertaining, the authorr slaps a “hurry up reading this as I’m done and ready to move on!” There were loose ends to tidy up and I wanted more about the house and her mother’s struggles. And the ending just made you wonder …..ugh.
The characters were loving written and you walk into Ellie’s life in the south …..into a mausoleum haunted by her dead grandmother……and missing memories.
The premise was interesting and could have gone spooky gothic but became scary relatives and it worked. Characters like Maddie and Midge and Julian were woven in and essential in their own ways. The journal’s written by Ellie’s mother were insightful, sad and creepy.
I loved what I read BUT it left me wanting more about Lia, the grandmother, old memories and Ellie’s new life. Does she keep the house, is the house haunted, and will Ellie’s romance continue? I felt cheated!
This author writes in such a captivating way that I read Magnolia Nights in one sitting. The two main characters were well drawn, nuanced, emotionally mature, and well-balanced human beings—very refreshing. Ellie is on a quest to regain her repressed memories of her early childhood. She knows something terrible must have happened but has struggled to remember for 25 years with no success. Along the way to reclaiming her story she finds some unexpected twists to her past. I am looking forward to the sequel which the author promises in spring of 2018.
Delightful read based in Charleston, one of my favorite towns.
My Rating:
4.5
Favorite Quote:
Her eyes convict and sentence you to death before you’ve even committed the crime.
My Review:
Magnolia Nights was an unexpected yet captivating departure from the previous works I have read by Ashley Farley. I loved her Sweeney Sisters series and I was pleasantly surprised by the somewhat eerie, intriguing, and mysterious Magnolia Nights. The storyline was unpredictable and engaging, and it certainly piqued my curiosity and kept me a bit on edge from beginning to end. The tale was well-crafted and full of twists and turns as well as heaving with an eclectic cast of characters that included the endearingly flawed main character of Ellie who is struggling to recover her childhood memories as well as secondary characters who were more than bit eccentric, bizarre, and chillingly devious. The storyline could best be classified as women’s fiction that entails mystery, family drama, romance, suspense, and maybe even a restless spirit if the housekeeper were to be believed. I was quickly pulled into the tale and had a hard time putting my Kindle down. I am eager to see what Ms. Farley does next.
Loved this story! The mystery and intrigue kept you intrigued and didn’t want to put it down. Hope there will be another book that answers some of the questions that are still unanswered.
Magnolia Nights by author Ashley Farley is a southern mystery set in the historic district of Charleston, SC. Eleanor Pringle has come back to her childhood home with her little Maltese, Pixie. Ellie has inherited her grandmother’s estate after her death. Fears and long buried memories of living in this house trouble Ellie and she is hoping being here will help her uncover the mystery.
Ellie is happy to see Maddie, the kind housekeeper she remembers from her time there. Maddie advises Ellie to keep her grandmother’s bedroom door open so her spirit will be free to leave. Ellie respects Maddie’s Gullah customs and later has experiences in the house which she feels is due to her grandmother’s spirit still hovering in the house.
Ellie explores the house and prepares to clean out some old things because she may decide to sell the house. She finds a note written by her mother. This starts Ellie on a hunt for her mothers journals or dairies. As she finds pages her mother wrote before her death, Ellie begins to uncover the secrets from the house.
I won’t post spoilers, but there are a couple of twists in the story which brings to light some of the mysteries of Ellie’s childhood. This story is written with emotions of a woman looking for her lost childhood and wanting answers. Will Ellie embrace and be happy with the truths she finds? A very well written mystery!