The Empty Nesters

I loved this story and the people in it. Carolyn Brown has a lovely writer’s voice!

A page turner

Great read! I love Carolyn Brown

Heartwarming story that I didn’t want to put down or see it end. I loved the intertwining of the 4 families lives and their ups and downs. I hope there will be a sequel.

Four Army wives that live on the same block, take a road trip together after the death of one husband and the three daughters of the others leave for basic training.

Retired veteran Smokey Colbert and his wife Tootsie are delighted when on one single day three young army couples, each with a daughter of the same age, move on to their block in Sugar Run Texas. Smokey and Tootsie, were never able to have their own children, so figuratively adopt the wives and girls as their own. Years pass. Gerald has an affair and divorces Diana, but she has the support of her friends. Five years later, Smokey dies shortly before his 83rd birthday, the 3 girls graduate high school, enlisted in the Army and head for basic training, and Eli decides that is the perfect time to send Carmon divorce papers, since unbeknown to her, he has been unfaithful most of their marriage. Smokey and Tootsie had had their annual trip to Scrap, Texas for a Family Reunion all planned, including the purchase of a large motorhome. She asks Smokey’s nephew, Luke to drive, but then invites her 3 “daughters” to come along, and help each other cope with their empty nest.

The book started off slow, but the characters developed as they each tried to help each other deal with their grief. There is even a little romance in the air. Easy banter in southern dialect add to the charm.

I read an ARC from NetGalley.com. This is my unbiased and voluntary review.

Tootsie and her retired Army husband Smokey are excited to see 3 young families move into their neighborhood. Not having any children this exciting because each one has a daughter for them to spoil. The 3 young Army wives Diana, Carmen and Joanie raise their daughters and pass time as their husbands are away. Now the girls are grown and have joined the Army also. Tootsie is heartbroken over the loss of her husband Smokey. She is returning to their home in Scrap Texas for their annual trip with out him. She enlist her nephew to drive her and ask the wives to come along. During this trip they all learn a lot about marriage, friendship and loss. I enjoyed the support they got from each other. There were endings and new beginnings for each person in this book. Each one showed how strong they were in the end. I received the book as an ARC from the publisher for my honest review.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah –
This story made me cry messy tears and it made me immensely grateful for the girlfriends who have become my own unshakeable chosen family. It’s a book about four women, all at crossroads in their lives. The themes in this story are universal. I think that any woman over 35 will be able to relate to the experiences of this tight knight group of friends. It’s a story about friendship, about sisterhood, and about navigating the unexpected pain life throws at us all.

Like most women my age, I could relate far too easily to parts of each of the four women’s experiences. From bereavement, divorce, infertility, empty nests, and fresh starts, the women in the story have all had their hearts hurt in very familiar ways. And like women everywhere, they only allow themselves a small interlude to nurse their pain before they have to move on and keep living. I love the road trip they take together. I love that it provides distance while also offering the emotional intimacy they need from their friends.

With the story shared between all four women, it isn’t easy to know any one of the women as well as I usually like in a book. I responded to the shared sense of female experience more than I did to any one character. I kinda like that I really have nothing in common with any of these women except for our age – but I can still relate to each story. I really love the friendships here and I love the intergenerational relationships between Tootsie and the younger women. There is a hint of romance in this book, but I love that it doesn’t overpower the main themes of friendship and sisterhood.

I didn’t find this an easy read – parts hit too close to home and I found other parts quite slow. I enjoyed the story and the themes, but I didn’t enjoy the writing style at all. Three of the women are very close in age to me but they read much older. Either that or they’ve all been much better at adulting than anyone I know. All three feel like they’re from a previous generation with their carefully balanced meals (on holiday even!), constant home baking, and careful attention to domestic details. I don’t personally know any women my age who’ve stayed at home to raise kids without a career or even an education to fall back on. While some of their problems feel contemporary and there are few references to modern technology, I feel like this book could have easily been written thirty years ago. There is a slightly conservative feel to the book but it’s difficult for me to know how much of this is part of Southern US culture and how much is the author’s own perspective.

Despite my reservations, I’ve awarded five stars because this story really touched an emotional nerve. It’s the right book at the right time and I love the sense of sisterhood in this book.

Ruthie –
This is a really lovely book, which is likely to bring a few tears, and some big smiles too, particularly if you are over the age of forty.

Recently widowed, Tootsie and her three army wife neighbours, who have done little other than support their husbands and bring up their daughters, are suddenly facing empty houses, and taking stock of their changing lives. Their insecurities, futures, and life plans are suddenly all scary, important questions, now that they have no other responsibilities at home. Then Tootsie proposes a road trip in her RV, and even supplies a nephew to do the driving – and so we go on a road trip with them and thanks to their close quarters, get to know them and their foibles pretty well.

As we join in their adventure, and get to learn about their highs and lows, it is very easy to identify with their experiences and become one of the group – so also easy to feel all the emotions too. Each woman is at a different stage in her journey, but the friendship between them is really closer than any family they have, and it makes for a really appealing sense of camaraderie. Whilst the trials of one may bring insecurity to another, they remain supportive, loving, and present.

There is a nascent romance that is beautifully written, and the secrecy they believe they are maintaining is illusory, but the respect of the others for their privacy is endearing. It is complicated but leads to a really sweet ending to a thoughtful and engaging story.

Reviewers received a free copy of this book to read and review for Wicked Reads.

Absolutely loved this book- the storyline and the characters. The author writes so that you are totally caught up in the story from the beginning! I was anxious to see what the next chapters held, but at the same time did not want to see the book end. You felt like these girls could be your neighbors the story was so heartfelt and real!!

Really enjoyed reading this heartwarming, funny, witty and engaging journey filled with amazing friends bonded by shared experience and the strength to endure the hard times…. was a great read from beginning to end. Great reading that was so hard to put down.

“Heaven is timeless, so drag your feet a little”..(while here). Don’t you love that line? This book is about life, love and loss; it’s the story of three military families, their three daughters, and, a wonderful retired older couple who had no children. That’s it in a nutshell and before you even start, drag out that Kleenex box. I guess because I’m older, have an RV and enjoy life, I sort of identify with this group of characters. It’s also a story-line about the steps of grief which can mean loss of job, loss of life or even loss of a marriage. I highly recommend not only this author but this book. It’s a great story.