I read this novel and then, I listened to this novel on audio. I really enjoyed the story. I liked the character of Ellie as she was a strong, caring individual. She could have walked away from the situation and started over yet she didn’t. Ellie held strong and thought about her family and what was best. I liked how the story moved from the present time period into the past and how the two connected. Presented with some questions at the beginning of the story, allowing the reader to time travel, gave us the ability to see we could get the answers we needed yet, also gave us more questions that we were able to get answers to later in the book.
Presently: Ellie is planning on moving into a newly built home with her daughter, Raine. This new home comes with a lot of memories although the house hasn’t had any family inside its walls. Ellie and her late husband, Jackson were both architects and have spent the past seven years designing this house. An accident claimed the life of her husband inside the studded walls of this dream home. Now, inside this newly developed estate, Ellie plans on beginning their new life with Raine in the house that her and her late husband designed. With her father close by, Ellie relies on him to help with the house and with four-year-old Raine but the emotional toll of this recent death still hits hard. With other houses being built around them, there is one older house that anchors the development and Ellie finds that she already has one neighbor, so she will be all alone. I felt this part of the book was more mysterious and adventurous. I found that I read these sections more slowly as it felt more discreet and secretive.
Time travel to 1965: Ellie wants to do something; she has a fire within her. Every summer she works at her father’s pharmacy but this year, she has heard about SCOPE and she wants to sign up. She approaches her parents about SCOPE: “place nearly five hundred predominantly white college students in nearly one hundred predominantly black rural and urban areas in Southern states.” This was part of the Civil Rights Act but her parents don’t care and refuse Ellie participation. Ellie is determined to go, so she forges her parent’s signature on the form and she prepares herself to go. What a ride this part of the book was. I looked forwarded to this time period as the excitement never ended. I was excited for Ellie yet I was scared as she went through some of the events.
What a great story, I enjoyed how everything came together. I think the audio of the book was nicely done too. I’m definitely going to be looking for more of her books in the near future. I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley, Diane Chamberlain and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for my honest review. 5 stars.
One Chapter 