Lightning In A Mason Jar by Catherine Mann

 

My thoughts

This book was a pleasure to read. It had a tough subject matter but overall it was a beautifully written story of women, friendships, being there for each other, and moving pass abusive relationships. It is in two different time periods that eventually meet. I enjoyed this book so much. Even the hard parts were good. Not hard to read. 

Back in the early seventies women were still predominantly reliant on men. To have a home. Money. Children. Everything. Who wants to go back to that? Uggg 

When Winnie goes missing and is presumed dead Bailey Rae is devastated. Winnie had been the best thing to ever happen to Bailey Rae. Even though they were not blood relations they loved each other like they were. Bailey Rae was like the daughter Winnie never had. 

Winnie had fled an abusive marriage. Her husband had put her in an institution. Not because of losing a child. Not because she was mental in any way. Because he could. She was just in his way. When she managed to escape she faked her death and went to South Carolina. Once there she was able to get help to start her life over. She met several ladies who had come there for the same reason. Made some friends. Deep friends. Ones that understood what she had endured and why she fled. 

This book will make you shed some tears. It will also have you rooting for the women. For them to get past things that happened. These women had gone through so much. Some way worse than others. But still it was the ultimate sacrifice to lose your name and start over with a whole new identity. To leave behind all that you once thought would be such a good and happy life. To make new memories. New dreams. A whole new life. And in most cases, never look back.

This book was tough but also it was filled with so much love. I throughly enjoyed reading it. I loved getting to know the women and the dog. Yes I loved that dog. When it grabbed that bullies leg I cheered. 

Great book. Well written. A real page turner with lots of intense scenes and, yes, a love story too. 

Thank you to the publisher for this ARC. 

About

In South Carolina, a woman discovers her aunt’s profound secrets in an emotional novel spanning decades about trauma, survival, and the bonds of female friendship by a USA Today bestselling author.

Since Bailey Rae Rigby’s adoptive aunt Winnie passed, Bent Oak, South Carolina, doesn’t have much of a hold on her anymore. So it seems.

Bailey Rae aims to settle the small estate and, armed with her aunt’s inspiring personal cookbook, buy a food truck with an ocean view in Myrtle Beach. Everything goes awry when a distraught young mother arrives in town clutching a copy of that same cookbook. Embedded inside is a code that promises a safe place in Bent Oak for desperate women on the run. For Bailey Rae it opens up a world of questions. Who really was the beloved aunt she’s known most of her life?

Winnie Ballard’s story reaches back fifty years—one of a Southern debutante’s harrowing marriage, of her escape and reinvention, and the galvanizing friendship of three resilient women who overcame their traumas, created a shelter, and found purpose. But there’s more to Winnie’s deliverance and long-held secrets than Bailey Rae imagines.

With each revelation, Bailey Rae draws on her aunt’s courage to find purpose herself. For now, whatever threats may come, Bailey Rae isn’t going anywhere.