Tag Archives: The Truth According to Us

Friday Book Whimsy: The Truth According to Us

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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was one of my favorite reads of 2008. Author Annie Barrows, best known for writing children’s books, finished that book upon the death of her aunt, Mary Ann Schaffer, and is listed as a co-author. I liked the book so much, so when I became aware of The Truth According to Us, by the same author, I eagerly started the book. I didn’t want to put it down.

Layla Beck’s father is a United States Senator in the years of the Great Depression. In 1938, he is fed up with the antics of his spoiled daughter, and coerces a friend to get her hired as part of the New Deal jobs program called the Federal Writers’ Project. He reluctantly agrees, and she is given the job of writing the history of a small mill town in the remotest part of West Virginia. Neither her father nor her new mentor have great expectations.

Far from the high society that she is used to, Layla finds a room living with the Romeyn family, whose family founded the sock manufacturing mill that basically employs and defines the town. She is quickly drawn into the mysteries surrounding that family. What’s more, she discovers she likes her new task, and she’s quite good at it.

Willa Romeyn is a curious 12-year-old whose mother abandoned her and her sister Bird when they were very young, leaving their upbringing to her fairly unreliable father Felix. It is really his sister, their Aunt Jottie, who takes on the task of making a home for the two girls.

It isn’t long before Layla has fallen for Felix, but she is intrigued by the stories that surround the family. She is also intrigued by the fact that the powers-that-be in the community seem to want nothing to do with the Romeyns.

The characters in The Truth According to Us, are delightfully quirky and loveable, and much more complex as the story plays out. The Romeyns are characters that I grew to love, especially Willa and Jottie.

The story is told from different perspectives, including Willa’s, Layla’s, and Jottie’s. Much of Layla’s perspective is demonstrated via letters written to her best friend and her parents. Despite the different perspectives, I didn’t find the book confusing at all.

It really was a delightful story with a satisfying ending, and created a good picture of Small Town American during the post WWI – and-pre-WWII years.

I highly recommend this book.

Here is a link to the book.

Friday Book Whimsy: 2015 Must Reads

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I have read a few 2015 releases already – World Gone By, by Dennis Lehane; Under the Same Blue Sky, by Pamela Schoenewaldt; and A Spool of Blue Thread,  by Anne Tyler, to be specific. I enjoyed all three, and have posted reviews of them all.

But there are a few 2015 books that have either recently been released or are yet to be released that I wouldn’t even think of missing for a variety of reasons.

In no particular order….

Few would argue that To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most important American books of all time. The characters are unforgettable. Scheduled to be released on July 14, Go Set a Watchman is, for all intents and purposes, a sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird. What makes this book particularly unique is that it was actually written and submitted years before To Kill a Mockingbird. Thought to be lost, the manuscript was found and will be released. Go Set a Watchman features the same characters as To Kill a Mockingbird, but 20 years later.

Sadly, author Kent Haruf passed away last year, but not before completing Our Souls at Night, which was released May 26. Set in the same fictional eastern Colorado town of Holt, Our Souls at Night is the story of two elderly people, both who lost their spouses several years ago, who find friendship and love in their later years amidst the small town gossip. Kent Haruf writes the most unbelieveably beautiful prose imaginable. I have this book sitting on my ebook shelf, and am eagerly looking forward to finishing the books I have borrowed from the library to dig into this one. I’m certain I won’t be disappointed.

The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows was released June 9 to much acclaim. Barrows is the author of the much-loved (including by me) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Barrows’ newest novel takes place in 1938 in a small West Virginian town, and tells the story of a young girl forced by her father (a United States Senator) to live in this small town despite her boredom. Boredom that is until she meets the Romeyn family and begins to unravel some family secrets. Sounds very good.

Julia Keller has become one of my favorite authors, and her protagonist Bell Elkins is one of my favorite characters. Last Ragged Breath, which will be released on August 25, is the next in the dark mystery series that also takes place in a fictional town in West Virginia. Her novels are contemporary, however. Keller’s writing is phenomenal and richly realistic. I can’t wait for this book to come out.

Speaking of mystery series, I’m eagerly awaiting Louise Penney’s next book The Nature of the Beast, featuring my beloved Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. The mysteries take place in a fictional small town near Quebec in Canada. Penney’s writing is imminently readable, but for me, the series is all about C.I. Gamache. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; I want him to be one of my BFFs.

Our favorite bail bondsman Stephanie Plum and her gang of hilarious friends will be back November 17 in Tricky Twenty-Two. I am compelled to include this book, not because it is great literature, but because every single one of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum novels have been so funny that I am in danger of, well, never mind. There is no way in the world I would miss a single one of these mysteries. The Stephanie Plum books are one of several that I really prefer to listen to as opposed to reading simply because the woman who narrates the books – Lorelei King – is absolutely tremendous.

Author Sue Grafton will be releasing the next in her so-called alphabet series featuring private investigator Kinsey Milhone on August 25. I used to love this series, but as of late, it has began to feel repetitious. Still, there are only so many letters in the alphabet, and this novel, entitled X, is the third from the end. I can’t quit now. For the past 23 books, I have been wondering what Grafton would title the X-book. You know, like A is for Alibi, B is for Burglar, L is for Lawless, O is for Outlaw, etc. I haven’t been able to think past X is for X-ray. Instead, Grafton went for simplicity with the title simply being X.  Who knows? Maybe Grafton will start over with double letters. You know, like AA is for Awesome Aardvark.

All the Single Ladies, by Dorothea Benton Frank, is a must-read for me simply because I absolutely love her settings, all of which are the low country of South Carolina, near Charleston. Her books always feature a strong-willed woman facing difficult circumstances and coming out unscathed. I like Frank’s writing. All the Single Ladies was released June 9. The story centers around three women facing the death of a fourth woman. I hate books where characters die, but I will undoubtedly give this one a try.

My new favorite author, Karen White, has a new novel out, released on May 12. The Sound of Glass follows a familiar Karen White theme – a young woman learns she has inherited a family estate that, of course, has a secret attached. The Sound of Glass takes place in Beaufort, South Carolina, which is a draw for me. I’m not sure I’ll get to this novel right away as White is very prolific and I have only recently begun reading her books. But I will definitely read it sometime soon.

Are there books either recently released or soon-to-be-released that you are going to read?