The Last Runaway

Finished October 2

The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier

In 1850, Grace Bright was set to travel to the United States to marry a man from her community who had previously emigrated there, her sister Honor decided to go with her. Honor had recently been left by the man she had been supposed to marry and was feeling too many eyes on her in the Quaker community that she lived in. On the voyage, Honor was much more seasick than her sister, but as they traveled to the community in Ohio that they were going to, it was Grace who fell ill and died. 

On the way, the wagon that Honor was getting a ride on was accosted by a rough man, Donovan, looking for escaped slaves. They had an interaction that Honor found disconcerting. Arriving in the town of Wellington, Honor sent word ahead of her sister's death, but took time to recover by staying with a kind woman, Belle Mills, who is a milliner. 

When her sister's fiance, Adam Cox, arrives and takes her back to the village of Oberlin, where he lives, she finds that Adam's brother has recently died as well, leaving her living with Adam, and his brother's widow Abigail. It is an uncomfortable situation as Honor feels resented and when soon the elders determine that it isn't right for an unmarried man to be living with two unmarried women who aren't his blood relations, she realizes that things must change. 

Honor is a skilled quilter and seamstress and did some work for Belle when she stayed with her. She also quilts at home in Oberlin and at a community quilting session, where her skills are noted. Adam asked her to come work at the dry goods store he owned in a larger town nearby and she met another interesting woman there, a black woman who also took note of her. 

As Honor adjusts to life in this new land, she must also find the quiet inside that she always felt at home with her religion, but struggles to here. And she must balance the legal issues with her sense of morality in dealing with escaped slaves. 

This was a very interesting read, that gave a sense of the real struggles that people dealt with during these times. It also gave a sense of the Quaker religion of the time and how communities both set themselves apart and mingled. 

The Suite Spot

Finished January 14

The Suite Spot by Trish Doller

I enjoyed her novel Float Plan, so when I saw there was a companion novel featuring the sister of the main character from Float Plan, I knew I wanted to read it. Rachel is very different from her sister Anna. She is kind of in a rut. She has a young child, and while she isn't exactly in a relationship with the father of her daughter Maisie anymore, she also feels like she won't ever find someone that she really cares about. She has a degree in hospitality and works as a night reception manager at a luxury Miami Beach hotel, hoping to move to a day job when her daughter starts school. But when a guest becomes aggressive and Rachel doesn't succumb, she finds herself looking for a new position. 

Getting a lead on a position at a new hotel in Ohio is a lucky break, and she finds its location surprisingly attractive. The hotel isn't open yet though, although the brewery is starting to create beers. Rachel finds the owner, Mason, nice but sometimes distracted, and when she learns of his loss, she feels for him. 

As Rachel begins to find her feet in her new role, and learn about her new community, she also has issues arising from back in Florida. 

There is lots to like here, from body positive messages, to book clubs, to the fun of hotel design, I liked not only the two main characters, but many of the secondary characters as well. Definitely another good read from this author. 

The McAvoy Sisters Book of Secrets

Finished May 15
The McAvoy Sisters Book of Secrets by Molly Fader

This story of two sisters begins with their mother Meredith. Meredith is supposed to be taking a nap, but she eludes the woman looking after her and is found walking down towards the spit with a flare gun. The police chief Garrett Singh is the one that finds her, confused and not entirely sure of her purpose. He asks if he should call her daughter, and she agrees, but he was referring to her younger daughter Delia, who lives in town with her husband Dan and two daughter, and she has him call her older daughter Lindy, who hasn't lived in town for nearly seventeen years.
Lindy is having a bit of a crisis in her life, losing her job, her boyfriend, and her place to live all in one blow, since one man is common to all. She's made a name for herself as a bartender and it won't be hard for her to get a new job, but she is suddenly finding her life less fulfilling. When she gets the call from Garrett and discovers that her mother had a stroke a little while ago, she immediately starts on her way.
Lindy didn't want to leave town all those years ago, but she felt she had no choice. Up until that point, Delia and Lindy had been very close, but something happened that drove them apart and made Lindy leave.
The book gradually reveals the story behind the sisters' estrangement, and what has happened in both their lives since then. Meredith plays a large role in the story, as does Delia's oldest daughter Brin, now a teenager. Brin's curiosity about the rift, about the secrets her parents and aunt have, and about her aunt in general all drive the story forward.
This is a story of secrets, not all of which are revealed to all the characters, and about family and small town life. There is lots going on her, from health to prejudice, from class divisions to fear of losing something precious. Small town life along the shores of lake Erie isn't necessarily simple.

Hillbilly Elegy

Finished April 14
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance

I had this book on my shelf at home for a while, and finally was prodded to read it by it being my book club read. It is a personal book, about the author's own experience of an absent father, an addict mother who wasn't often there for him, two grandparents that raised him for the most part, and an older half-sister who tried to do what was right for him as much as she could.
It is a story of being raised in both the factory towns of Ohio and the hills of the Appalachians. It is about those around him who adjusted well to the urban life, and those who did not. It is about poverty, and the rise and loss of American manufacturing jobs, about how education and home life combine to keep children on the path towards a happy and fulfilling life.
I enjoyed it, but also was aware from other reading that I've done, that it only shows part of the story of America. The more stories we learn from the many different experiences, help us to understand what is right and what is wrong with the current situation, and hopefully those that set policy read and listen and learn from stories like this.

The Last Place You Look

Finished January 18
The Last Place You Look by Kristen Lepionka, read by Allyson Ryan

This suspense novel is the first in a series featuring private detective Roxane Weary. Roxane is in bad shape as the book begins, still not really recovered from her father's death. Her dad was a police officer who was killed on duty. He was a gruff man, who drank too much and criticized a lot. Roxane doesn't really have fond memories of him, but his death has hit her hard, and she's been drinking too much too often. When one of her brothers refers someone to her to find a person who's been missing for more than a decade, she takes it only because she really needs the money.
But as she begins to research the case of the missing Sarah Cook, she finds other women in the area who've gone missing. The woman who hired her has a tight deadline, as her brother, Brad Stockton, is on death row for killing Sarah's parents and his date of death has been set for just a couple months away. Brad is black, and Sarah was white, so there is a possible racial element to this case as well.
The police in the suburban community near Columbus, Ohio, where Sarah and her parents lived actively dissuade Roxane from looking further into these disappearances, which really pisses her off.
I loved the character Roxane, as she's really interesting. She's smart, with great instincts for the work she does, but definitely has some problems on the personal side. She's made some questionable choices of partners (she's bisexual) and she resents her oldest brother as a goody-goody. She also thinks her mother put up with too much from her father. But she has definitely feelings for all her family members.
She also cares about the people she gets close to as a result of this case, as well as the victims. She puts herself in danger to try to help them, and she definitely has her share of bad luck. I look forward to reading more books featuring her.

Never Come Back

Finished August 29
Never Come Back by David Bell

This suspense novel opens with graduate student Elizabeth Hampton entering her childhood home in the small college town of Dover, Ohio, after being called by police. After learning that her mother is dead, and the circumstances of her death are suspicious, Elizabeth's immediate worry is about her older brother Ronnie. Ronnie still lives with their mother and since he has Down's Syndrome, relies on her for many things. He is high functioning, working and going to community activities. He was the one who found their mother when he came home late after being sent to a neighbours and not being picked up again.
Elizabeth is feeling guilty because after an argument with her mom, she hasn't talked to her in weeks. She calls on her uncle Paul for help, and on her on again off again boyfriend Dan. As events unfold and Elizabeth feels more vulnerable and that the police aren't looking beyond the obvious, she takes matters into her own hands to follow the clues in her mother's will to find the secrets of the past.
This is a novel of family secrets, of betrayals, and of the changing nature of families. Elizabeth is smart and determined to make a better life for herself, but she learns that she can't do it alone and must open herself up to others to truly live.

The Weird Sisters

Finished October 3
The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown

This novel follows the three Andreas sisters: Rosalind (Rose), Bianca (Bean), and Cordelia (Cordy). Their father is a Shakespearean scholar and professor at the college in Branwell, Ohio. The women are all in their late twenties or early thirties and they are all at turning points in their life. Rose has been the daughter who did what was expected of her. She got her Ph.D. and became a professor of mathematics at a college close to home. She has recently become engaged and is in the planning stages of her wedding. Her fiance Jonathan is doing a visiting professorship at Oxford and is urging her to join him, but she feels the need to be home and support the rest of her family, particularly her mother who has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. Bianca always had her eyes on the big city and making it there, and she made a beeline for New York. She's been working there as an office manager, but has recently lost her job and has financial issues that have caused her to question her life, and go home to regroup. Cordy has been a wanderer, moving around the country, picking up odd jobs and doing what she feels she has to to find a meal and a bed when she needs them. She has just realized that she is pregnant and doesn't know what she wants to do about it, but realizes that the life she is living is not sustainable for her anymore.
Rose keeps trying to take charge and organize everyone else, but she is scared to take risks and go beyond her comfort zone in her own life, and this summer will push her to stop being the tender of her family and make a life for herself. Bean is forced to find a job and evaluate her own motivations as she deals with her financial responsibilities and the bad decisions she has made. Cordy also must find a job to support herself, and look inward to find her own strengths instead of running from life.
This is a coming of age story for these sisters, but also made me think about fears, motivations, and taking chances in life. I really liked the way the whole family used quotations from Shakespeare as a kind of language with each other to question, comfort, and challenge each other as they found a new way of relating to each other.

Audio Thriller

Finished March 4
Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo, read by Kathleen McInerney
Main character Kate Burkholder definitely has her flaws, but she has a tough history that has led to them. Now the chief of police of Painters Mill, Ohio, she grew up Amish. At the age of 14, she survived an attack that ultimately led her to withdraw from the life she knew.
When one of her officers discovers the body of a murdered woman that has signs the same as a killer that operated in the area 16 years ago, Kate is drawn back to the attack she survived. What happened to her then comes back to haunt her. As she struggles to keep her own secret, she is also walking a line between her law enforcement present and Amish past. As this case develops, Kate also struggles against prejudice and the agendas of others to find the truth.
Lots going on here, and many characters with interesting issues.