MY THOUGHTS
I always enjoy a dual timeline and this is no exception. It is told from two eras and two people. Violet in the early 1920s and Melanie in 2018. It's one you definitely do not want to miss. The second book by this author.
My favorite line from this book: THOUGH CANDY BARS MAY RAIN FROM THE SKY, LIFE WILL NOT ALWAYS BE SWEET. GO ON NEW ADVENTURES. LOVE AND BE LOVED. YOU CAN CHOOSE YOUR HAPPINESS..
If you read this book you will understand that.. If not then maybe you should read this one.
We start out in Detroit, Michigan in August 1923. Violet is on a date and it's during Prohibition. Violet is a young woman who wants to be independent. She wants to earn her way in the world. In that day and time she certainly had her work cut out for her. But Violet is very strong and resilient. She knows what she wants and she goes for it. She's a hard working young woman. She has one sister who she's very close too. Her father died so it's just her mother who she feels she has to constantly prove herself too. Her mother wants her to be happy and to live her life though.
Then we meet Melanie. Melanie is Violet's great great niece and they are very close. Violet leaves her beloved car, a 1923 Jordan, to Melanie. She also leaves her journal in the trunk in a safe place so Melanie will find it and see what kind of life she had as a young woman. Melanie is working hard to get a better position in her job. To make more money and hopefully make her mother proud of her. She also feels she has to prove herself to her mother. Both her and Violet have that in common. Both are very strong and independent females who want more out of life than just a home and children. They want careers too. Why could they not have both? Maybe they could. Or at least Melanie since she is living in a much more modern era. It's 2018 after all.
What happens in this book is nothing short of beautiful and sad. It is beautifully written and it's also filled with several sad things. But not so you won't want to read it. It's just the way life happened. Things do have to feel somewhat realistic in a story and it definitely does in this one. I absolutely adored Violet. In ways she reminded me of my grandmother. Not that my grandmother ever drove a vehicle but she was a strong woman and I loved her dearly. This book brings out many emotions and has all the feels that I love in a book. I laughed and cried reading it. I rooted for a certain couple but that was not meant to be either.
This is a very good book. I promise you don't want to miss this one. You'll learn some things about whiskey and cars too. So it's a plus.
Thank you #NetGalley, #ToriWhitaker, #LakeUnionPublishing for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.
5 huge stars. Grab it. I highly recommend it.
SYNOPSIS
A cherished heirloom opens up a century of secrets in a bittersweet novel about family, hard truths, and self-discovery by the author of Millicent Glenn’s Last Wish.
Melanie Barnett thinks she has it all together. With an ex-fiancé and a pending promotion at a Kentucky bourbon distillery, Melanie has figured out that love and career don’t mix. Until she makes a discovery while cleaning her Jordan MX car, a scarlet-red symbol of the Jazz Age’s independent women that she inherited from her great-great-great-aunt Violet. Its secret compartment holds Violet’s weathered journal—within it an intriguing message: Take from this story what you will, Melanie, and you can bury the rest. Melanie wonders what more there is to learn from Violet’s past.
In 1921 Violet Bond defers to no one. Hers is a life of adventure in Detroit, the hub of the motorcar boom and the fastest growing city in America. But in an era of speakeasies, financial windfalls, free-spirited friends, and unexpected romance, it’s easy to spin out of control.
Now, as Melanie’s own world takes unexpected turns, her life and Violet’s life intersect. Generations apart, they’re coming into their own and questioning what modern womanhood—and happiness—really means.
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