It’s 1944, and high school senior Meg Michaels has always obeyed her grandparents’ wishes, till now. They’re urging her to give up her dream of Cornell University and accept a ring from wealthy Hank Wickham before he deploys overseas.But Meg has studied hard and yearns for something better than life in the rural Finger Lakes. Plus Meg’s suddenly fascinated with her childhood friend, Arthur Young, … Arthur Young, a handsome Seneca Indian farm worker. When Meg and Arthur nurse a sick puppy to health, their friendship transforms into love.
But locals look down on “injuns” and resent the fact that Arthur’s farm job exempts him from military duty. While the war rages in Europe, Meg and Arthur must fight their own battles at home…
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Emily Heebner does an artful job of transporting you back to the 1940s. She clearly took a lot of time and effort to research not only the tangible items of the era, but the zeitgeist that affected everyone, one way or another. Seneca Lake is a unique coming of age story for a young woman trying to find a path forward in an age when women’s roles in society were in flux. The narration was expertly performed, and felt like the right voice to tell this story.
A poignant small town story with a bit of romance. The story is set during 2nd World War. It’s a story that brings you into a Wonderful world when life was much simpler, but same concerns about life, shadowed by bigotry, war, bullying, finding your place in life, and wondering about the future. Emily Heebner’s descriptive words, paints a picture of the scenery, actions and of days gone by. The characters are wonderfully developed , Meg, finding love, seeing the effects of the war on her family, friends, and loves and wanting to make a change in her life. .I.hope.there is a continuation of this story of Meg. Ann Marie Lee tells the story with a softness, emotion , and love. Her voices and personalities for each character were spot on! Her ability to transition from one character to the other is flawless.. #audiobookobsessionreview.
This was my first book by the author. She did a fabulous job bringing to life WWII-era upstate New York. I enjoyed the story through the eyes of young Meg, who is on the cusp of graduating school, entering college, and delving into womanhood. This story is a blend of historical fiction meets YA meets Women’s Fiction. We experience heartache and growth through Meg’s journey of breaking free from a dysfunctional family, exploring young love, managing her personal life, and really just surviving during a questionable time. Can she experience life to its fullest? Ms. Heebner explores discrimination, bullying, mental illness, depression and the ravages of war. I’m a sucker for scenery and she does a great job painting the picture of this quiet area of New York. The characters are well-developed and your heart aches for them. A great read — I highly recommend it!
Seneca Lake is a beautiful, touching tale of forbidden romance. Rigid societal structures are no match for the authentic connection between Meg and Arthur. Although I tend to prefer modern-day love stories, I found it easy to relate to the characters in this historical fiction romance.
I haven’t yet read this book, but it’s on my TBR list for audio because…guess what?
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Here are the other authors: Jean Grant, Laura Heffernan, Shereen Vedam, J.W. Elliot, Uvi Poznansky, and Judith Sterling.
Genres are YA, Women’s Fiction, Coming of Age, New Adult. The book pictured here is Emily Heebner’s Seneca Lake. Review requested and much appreciated.
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Seneca Lake, Emily Heebner, author is featured here.
While WWII rages, will Meg defy her family and follow her heart?
1944 in rural upstate New York. High school senior Meg lives with her grandparents above a saloon overlooking Seneca Lake. Born during the crash of 1929, Meg was one too many pregnancies for her emotionally fragile mother.
Meg aims to break free from her family’s cycle of poverty by attending Cornell University in the fall. Her grandparents hope she’ll nab a ring from wealthy Hank Wickham before he deploys for Europe. But Meg finds secret romance with handsome, enigmatic Arthur, a 19-year-old Seneca Indian farm worker who shares life lessons with Meg, telling her stories from Iroquois Indian lore.
Locals look down on “injuns” and resent the fact that Arthur’s farm job exempts him from military duty. While the war rages in Europe, Meg and Arthur must fight their own battles at home.
In Seneca Lake, e follow Meg at the tail end of World War 2, who is on the precipice of dating Hank, yet her friend Arthur has caught her eye. Arthur who probably won’t finish high school, who isn’t serving in the army because he’s needed at home, whose father was no good. This won’t end well for Meg, her family thinks highly of Hank and he would be a much better match.
The blurb states that Meg’s grandparents urge her to give up her dream of Cornell, but I don’t get the feeling that it’s a dream of hers, I don’t get the feeling she has any dreams outside of spending time with Arthur. I think as far as the back and forth between the two, it’s sweet and I like the way Heebner has incorporated Native American folklore into Arthur’s stories.
I really wanted to love this book and it had good moments, but when it came to fleshing out the characters and the storyline, including the ending, it fell a bit flat. I didn’t feel there was much of a storyline, there was a lot of conversation going on between Meg and Arthur, but it didn’t necessarily move the story forward. The ending, while satisfying, sort of just happened, and rather quickly at that. It was a very quick read and I thoroughly enjoyed the historical details of the war and Seneca Lake that the author included.