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Happy November friends! I’m excited to share what I read in November with you. The 3 books I read were all winners, and I’d highly recommend them. Isn’t it great when all the books you read are good? I’ve currently read 41 books (and about a million children’s books), for my goal of 45 books for the year, and it’s looking like I might surpass that, at least by a book or two! Feeling pretty proud about that right now. And now, let’s get on to what I read!
Glory Over Everything by Kathleen Grissom
Jamie Pyke, son of both a slave and master of Tall Oakes, has a deadly secret that compels him to take a treacherous journey through the Underground Railroad. Published in 2010, The Kitchen House became a grassroots bestseller. Fans connected so deeply to the book’s characters that the author, Kathleen Grissom, found herself being asked over and over “what happens next?” The wait is finally over.
This new, stand-alone novel opens in 1830, and Jamie, who fled from the Virginian plantation he once called home, is passing in Philadelphia society as a wealthy white silversmith. After many years of striving, Jamie has achieved acclaim and security, only to discover that his aristocratic lover Caroline is pregnant. Before he can reveal his real identity to her, he learns that his beloved servant Pan has been captured and sold into slavery in the South. Pan’s father, to whom Jamie owes a great debt, pleads for Jamie’s help, and Jamie agrees, knowing the journey will take him perilously close to Tall Oakes and the ruthless slave hunter who is still searching for him. Meanwhile, Caroline’s father learns and exposes Jamie’s secret, and Jamie loses his home, his business, and finally Caroline.
Heartbroken and with nothing to lose, Jamie embarks on a trip to a North Carolina plantation where Pan is being held with a former Tall Oakes slave named Sukey, who is intent on getting Pan to the Underground Railroad. Soon the three of them are running through the Great Dismal Swamp, the notoriously deadly hiding place for escaped slaves. Though they have help from those in the Underground Railroad, not all of them will make it out alive.
4 stars. While I did enjoy The Kitchen House more, I enjoyed becoming immersed in Grissom’s writing and characters. As the above blurb states, this is a stand-alone novel, however, I think you would enjoy it even more if you have read The Kitchen House. I actually wish I had re-read The Kitchen House before I read this, so I could remember the story better. If you liked The Kitchen House, or enjoy historical fiction, definitely give this a read.
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
Alice Love is twenty-nine, crazy about her husband, and pregnant with her first child. So imagine Alice’s surprise when she comes to on the floor of a gym and is whisked off to the hospital where she discovers the honeymoon is truly over — she’s getting divorced, she has three kids and she’s actually 39 years old. Alice must reconstruct the events of a lost decade, and find out whether it’s possible to reconstruct her life at the same time. She has to figure out why her sister hardly talks to her, and how is it that she’s become one of those super skinny moms with really expensive clothes. Ultimately, Alice must discover whether forgetting is a blessing or a curse, and whether it’s possible to start over.
4 stars. As always, Liane Moriarty captivated me from page one. I’ve really enjoyed all of her books, and this one was particularly thought provoking as I thought about own marriage, my sense of self, and what I would do if I woke up without the memories of the last 5 or 10 years of my life. Definitely recommend. (And PS, thank goodness for the epilogue! Ha. Actually most of the epilogues in her books end up being my favorite parts!)
The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain
In The Silent Sister, Riley MacPherson has spent her entire life believing that her older sister Lisa committed suicide as a teenager. Now, over twenty years later, her father has passed away and she’s in New Bern, North Carolina cleaning out his house when she finds evidence to the contrary. Lisa is alive. Alive and living under a new identity. But why exactly was she on the run all those years ago, and what secrets are being kept now? As Riley works to uncover the truth, her discoveries will put into question everything she thought she knew about her family. Riley must decide what the past means for her present, and what she will do with her newfound reality, in this engrossing mystery from international bestselling author Diane Chamberlain.
4 stars. I’ve had multiple books by Diane Chamberlain on my to-read shelf for quite a while now, and this, my first book by her, did not disappoint. It was just one of those fun twisty not-quite-thrillers that are so popular right now (think Liane Moriarty) and I really enjoyed it.
Currently reading: In The Unlikely Event, and Fervent.
Currently on my bookshelf: You’ve Got This, and Faith and A Life Jacket.
What did you read in October? Drop me suggestions below!
