27. We Hope for Better Things by Erin Bartels

listened to eAudio - RBDigital/TPPL
narrated by Stina Nielsen
Unabridged audio (12:03)
2019, Fleming H. Revell Co.
393 pgs.
Adult Hidtorical Fiction told in 3 time periods
Finished 2/10/2020
Goodreads rating:  4.22 - 2440 ratings
My rating:  5
Setting:Detroit and rural Michigan:  1861-1871, 1963-1967, and present time

First line/s:  Detroit: July  "The Lafayette Coney Island was not a comfortable place to be early."

My comments:  This was one of those books I didn't want to put don't and I couldn't wait to get back to.  I love historical fiction that goes back and forth between points-of-view, and this one didn't disappoint. Told from the viewpoints of three strong women, all related, and dealing with the racism of the Civil War, 1960's Detroit, and present day, and how history can follow a family - and just how important a family's history can be.  Beautifully read, great characters, and a setting that is a hugely strong part of the story, a great story.

Goodreads synopsis:  When Detroit Free Press reporter Elizabeth Balsam meets James Rich, his strange request--that she look up a relative she didn't know she had in order to deliver an old camera and a box of photos--seems like it isn't worth her time. But when she loses her job after a botched investigation, she suddenly finds herself with nothing but time.
          At her great-aunt's 150-year-old farmhouse, Elizabeth uncovers a series of mysterious items, locked doors, and hidden graves. As she searches for answers to the riddles around her, the remarkable stories of two women who lived in this very house emerge as testaments to love, resilience, and courage in the face of war, racism, and misunderstanding. And as Elizabeth soon discovers, the past is never as past as we might like to think.
          Debut novelist Erin Bartels takes readers on an emotional journey through time--from the volatile streets of 1960s Detroit to the Underground Railroad during the Civil War--to uncover the past, confront the seeds of hatred, and discover where love goes to hide.

48. The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton

Washington Square Press
published in Australia in 2008
paper, $15.00
552 pages
for: adults
Rating: 5

I really enjoyed this cleverly woven story of three generations of women. Set in Brisbane, Australia and Cornwall, England, it flips back and forth - quite flawlessly, actually - between the period from 1900 through 1913, to 1975, and then 2005. It is a mystery, with a cottage on a Cornwall cliff that contains a walled secret garden as one of the characters. It is also intertwined with the fairy tales written by Eliza, which adds another dimension to the rich story.

In 1913 Nell is abandoned on a ship that is making its way from London to Australia. Many years later, she tries to piece together the story, figure out who she is and where she came from. After she dies, her beloved granddaughter Cassandra picks up the pieces and continues the search, trying to figure out the mystery of which her grandmother had never spoken.

We meet Eliza, orphaned daughter of beautiful Georgianna, who left Blackhurst Manor to flee an obsessed brother and follow her heart. Georgianna's husband is a sailor, and when he is killed, she chooses to live in poverty in London with her twin daughter and son rather than return to Cornwall. The son tragically dies and Eliza is swept back to Blackhurst to "entertain" her sickly cousin, Rose. Years later the cottage on the cliff, connected by an intricate maze to the manor, becomes Eliza's. It sits empty for 60 years until it becomes Nell's, then another 30 until it becomes Cassandra's. And it is Cassandra that eventually unearths all of its secrets and works diligently to make it her new home.

I couldn't put this book down. Even though I had a pretty good idea of the outcome, it was nice to see all the extra, intricate pieces of the story fall into place. I very much enjoyed Kate Morton's writing, and will look to find the book she wrote a few years previously, The House at Riverton.