Tuesday 28 November 2017

#BookReview The Sisters of Glass Ferry by Kim Michele Richardson (@KMRichardson_) @KensingtonBooks

The Sisters of Glass Ferry by Kim Michele Richardson
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Spanning several decades and written in an authentic voice both lyrical and wise, The Sisters of Glass Ferry is a haunting novel about small-town Southern secrets, loss and atonement, and the unbreakable bond between siblings.

Glass Ferry, Kentucky, is bourbon country. Whiskey has been a way of life for generations, enabling families to provide and survive even in the darkest times. Flannery Butler's daddy, Beauregard "Honey Bee" Butler, was known for making some of the best whiskey in the state, aged in barrels he'd take by boat up and down the Kentucky River until the rocking waters turned the spirits smooth and golden. Flannery is the only person Honey Bee ever entrusted with his recipes before he passed on, swearing her to secrecy as he did so.

But Flannery is harboring other secrets too, about her twin sister Patsy, older by eight minutes and pretty in a way Flannery knows she'll never be.

Then comes the prom night when Patsy--wearing a yellow chiffon dress and the family pearls--disappears along with her date. Every succeeding year on the twins' birthday, Flannery's mother bakes a strawberry cake, convinced that this is the day Patsy will finally come home. But it will be two tumultuous decades until the muddy river yields a clue about what happened that night, compelling Flannery to confront the truth about her sleepy town, her family's past, and the choices she and those closest to her have made in the name of love and retribution . . .

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Some books start off in a way that makes you just know that this book will work out very well. And, this beginning of this book with Flannery visiting her mother on her birthday and it's the twentieth one since Flannery's sister Patsy went missing. And, still, her mother expects that she will show up. This is the year, this time will Patsy return. And, yes this is the year patsy comes home, it's also the year Flannery finally will learn what happened twenty years prior, when her sisters Patsy disappeared...

I love reading books set in the American South and this one with two parallel storylines is a fabulous read. The book shifts effortlessly between the 70s and the 50s during the book and I found both storylines compelling. As Flannery learns about Patsy's fate in 1972 do we also get Patsy and Flannery's POV in 1952. It's a captivating and tragic story and I loved how part of me, despite pretty much knowing the outcome hoped that Patsy would come home. The ending of the book also revealed a big surprise that really took me by surprise. This is a book that is sad, but there are all lovely moments and I especially loved the last part of the book because I hoped that Flannery would find some peace and joy in her life.

The Sisters of Glass Ferry is a fantastic book and I hope to get the chance to read the authors other books!

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!

1 comment:

  1. Please help me understand this books ending. The sisters of glass ferry. I don’t get it at all. Is if a surprise twist ending? Didn’t Danny and patsy diein a crash into the Kentucky river? Is joetta supposed to be alive the whole time? And we learn that the twin boys of honey bee and mama jean were murdered by joetta-what’s the significance of that? Help me! I’m so lost.

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