REVIVING THE HAWTHORNE SISTERS by Emily Carpenter

 

The bestselling author of Burying the Honeysuckle Girls returns to uncover a faith healer’s elusive and haunted past.

Burying the Honeysuckle Girls was my first book by Emily Carpenter and I loved it. I’ve read a few since but not until this one have I felt the same feelings I did reading Honeysuckle Girls.

This book is Dove’s story. From when she was just a young child living in Prichard Institute to her death many years later. There is so much going on in this story and I want to be very careful to not give anything away.

It’s told from two timelines. Past and present. Ruth/.Dove’s story is the past and her granddaughter, Eve’s, is the present. Ruth/Dove escaped the institute. From there she did what it took to survive. She became a nurse of sorts later for an old man and became his granddaughter, Bruna’s, best friend. They could sing and have voices like angels. They sang for evangelicals and made lots of money during the depression. The depression is not what this book is about by the way. It’s about family. Friendships. Love. Loss.

Ruth was in love with a boy, Dell. He was the love of her life actually. She didn’t get to see much of him though and eventually went on to marry a man named Charles. He was a traveling preacher. I like to think that she eventually did fall in love with him. He seemed to be a kind man to her. Ruth/Dove had a hard life in many ways but was also very lucky in other ways. She had a daughter, yet it seems she was not the best mom to her. I think Ruth/Dove tried. At least that is the feeling I got from her. I felt sorry for her when reading her part of this story. The way men treated women even in the thirties was horrible. Dove though really had a good life considering she was taken away from all the bad finally. Her and Charles Jarrod traveled. They were evangelicals and it seems they had some morals. At least some. He seemed to care about her from what was told in this story.

Eve, Ruth/Dove’s granddaughter does not like the work her grandmother did. She believes it was all fake. But her mother and brother both are big believers and she does what she has to to keep them happy and on track. After her grandmother’s death her mom decides to carry on the family business and Eve has to help. At least for a while.

There are many ups and downs in this book. Told from two different timelines you get a sense of past and present and how they will merge to solve a big mystery in Eve’s life. She goes through a whole lot to solve this mystery and takes you along with her. From her life being in peril to finding out more about her grandmother than she ever knew she keeps on going. Nothing can stop her. She helps people along the way too. Falls for a guy and I’d like to think finds her own happiness.

This is a very heartwarming, edge of your seat in parts, sad, tragic and forgiving story. One that will stick with you.

Thank you to #NetGalley, #EmilyCarpenter, #LakeUnion for this ARC. This is my own thoughts about this book.

5/5 stars and a high recommendation. If you read Burying the Honeysuckle Girls, you will love this one too.