Books & Java

A Long Time Gone

by Karen White

Synopsis:

When Vivien Walker left her home in the Mississippi Delta, she swore never to go back, as generations of the women in her family had. But in the spring, nine years to the day since she’d left, that’s exactly what happens—Vivien returns, fleeing from a broken marriage and her lost dreams for children.

What she hopes to find is solace with "Bootsie," her dear grandmother who raised her, a Walker woman with a knack for making everything all right. But instead she finds that her grandmother has died and that her estranged mother is drifting further away from her memories. Now Vivien is forced into the unexpected role of caretaker, challenging her personal quest to find the girl she herself once was.

But for Vivien things change in ways she cannot imagine when a violent storm reveals the remains of a long-dead woman buried near the Walker home, not far from the cypress swamp that is soon to give up its ghosts. Vivien knows there is now only one way to rediscover herself—by uncovering the secrets of her family and breaking the cycle of loss that has haunted her them for generations. 

My Review:

Five stars is not enough. This book is SO GOOD and so well-written. The story of "chasing ghosts" from the past to find answers about ourselves. A testament to why we need to know our past, our history in order to understand where we are going or what our place in life is all about. This story spans from 1920s to modern day and 4 generations of Walker women (Adelaide, Bootsie, Carolyn and Vivien) lost to their purpose and place in life all because of the events that took place in 1927 at the Walker home in Indian Mound, MS. It takes a divorce and the loss of a pregnancy in 2013 for Vivie to go back home to MS to find herself. This story is so full of twists and turns - tragic, mysterious, full of secrets but full of love and nurturing. It is too easy to giveaway the story if I give more of the storyline and I feel that it would truly ruin the reading experience; and it was an experience - delightful, engaging and satisfying. I will definitely be reading more books by Karen White. EXCELLENT!!!!!