About the Book:

To most people, Folly Beach, South Carolina, is simply the last barrier island before the Atlantic. To some, it’s a sanctuary, which is why Janie Hamilton’s mother encourages her to buy the local book store, Folly’s Finds, hoping it will distract Janie from the loss of her husband in Afghanistan.

Janie is at first resistant, but intrigued after finding love letters and an image of a beautiful bottle tree in a box of used books from Folly’s Finds, and decides to take the plunge. The store’s seller insists on one condition: Janie must allow Lulu, the late owner’s elderly sister, to continue selling her bottle trees from its back yard. Historically, bottle trees were brought by African slaves to the American South, and Janie had grown up with one in her backyard, and it has always been a symbol of refuge to her.

Janie generally ignores Lulu as she sifts through the love letters, wanting to learn more. But the more she discovers of the letters’ authors, the closer she feels to Lulu. As details of a possible murder and a mysterious disappearance during World War II are revealed, the two women discover that circumstances beyond their control, sixty years apart, have brought them together, here on Folly Beach. And it is here that their war-ravaged hearts can find hope for a second chance…

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This is another fantastic read.  It is a book that rocketed to my favorites list in the first couple of chapters, and remained their long after I had finished reading.  White has proven herself an adept author when it comes to handling multiple story lines, and a broad variety of characters — and being able to pull them all together in an amazingly fascinating whole.  This story spans two wars, and a wide expanse of mysteries that have arisen out of those wars.  Combined with that is an unusual cast of characters with very unusual interests, a small town, a small town bookstore, and even a reference to an unexplained historical mystery of a sunken World War II, German U-Boat, and the an intriguing look at the potential espionage activities during that infamous war.

The characters and setting of this book come together to create a story with a distinct personality, and resonance.  This is not a book that is simply read as a passing, light read.  The setting, a small, Southern town, isolated on an island is a distinct character presence all its own.  And White does a great job of creating not only the unique feel of a small, Southern town, but also the mystical, almost other world feel that exists in these towns with history.  This story incorporates the feel of the Southern setting with the eccentricities of the small town people to build a readable story that covers three generations, and fifty years worth of canvas.  This setting gives a great depth, and even a distinct dimension to this story that draws the reader in and holds their attention.

Another interesting twist that was incorporated into this story was a little known history of a German U-boat sunk less than thirty miles of the American East Coast.  When I first came across this history I was reading Shadow Divers — the diver’s account of their finding and identifying of this missing submarine.  This crazy story is one that has proved to be one of the last mysteries of the World War II era — as it is not commonly known that there was an enemy submarine that ever got close to the American continent, following the attack on Pearl Harbor.  White has done a wonderful story in pulling this little known historical mystery into her own work, and building a story that proves to be both fascinating for the questions it raises, as well as giving readers a wonderful book to get engrossed in.

White has demonstrated a great gift for not only writing a great story about the Southern states — but she also manages to build multiple mystery story lines within an all encompassing, cohesive whole.  Her characters are unique, with fun quirks and idiosyncrasies that give the reader a great amount depth to get engrossed in.  The mysteries are all great stories in and of themselves — however, they all make an overall story that is well thought out, and crafted with the reader’s enjoyment in mind.

Tags: America, Family, Friendship, Grief, Historical Fiction, Memory, Mystery, Nazi, World War II

Category: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery