Good Morning Friends :)
Thank you all for joining me today on The Preppy Book Princess for another book review.
If you've read my blog before, then you'd probably know that I love dual timeline novels. I know there's a lot of these stories popping up now, especially within the Christian fiction genre, and I love it.
I recently finished another excellent story that uses this particular style, and today I'm excited to share with you all what I ended up thinking about it.
The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery by Amanda Cox:
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Publisher: Revell
Publication Date: September 7th, 2021
Genre: Christian Fiction/Women's Fiction/Dual Timeline
Synopsis:
Present Day. After tragedy plunges her into grief and unresolved anger, Sarah Ashby returns to her childhood home determined to finally follow her long-denied dream of running Old Depot Grocery alongside her mother and grandmother. But when she arrives, her mother, Rosemary, announces to her that the store is closing. Sarah and her grandmother, Glory Ann, make a pact to save the store, but Rosemary has worked her entire life to make sure her daughter never follows in her footsteps. She has her reasons--but she'll certainly never reveal the real one.
1965. Glory Ann confesses to her family that she's pregnant with her deceased fiancé's baby. Pressured into a marriage of convenience with a shopkeeper to preserve the family reputation, Glory Ann vows never to love again. But some promises are not as easily kept as she imagined.
This dual-timeline story from Amanda Cox deftly explores the complexity of a mother-daughter dynamic, the way the secrets we keep shape our lives and the lives of others, and the healing power of telling the truth.
(synopsis from goodreads)
My Review:
Amanda Cox's The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery is a poignant and beautiful story that speaks of familial bonds, faith no matter the circumstances, and the sad truth that secrets kept are secrets that hold power. This was my first experience with a novel by this author, and I was blown away by the beautiful storytelling, well developed characters, and the dual timeline that twists and turns around telling the stories of three generations of women connected to the town's beloved grocery.
This was such a heartfelt story, and it brought me to tears on many occasions throughout. Amanda Cox is a wonderful storyteller, and she definitely knows how to connect her stories to her reader in ways that make them seem authentic and realistic. Certain parts of this book were hard to read about; as it was sad to see the way that certain family members insisted on acting and behaving, but at the same time, this brought another authentic element to the story, and the overall novel never came across as inauthentic or unbelievable.
This is the type of novel that you want to curl up with on a rainy day, and not put it down until it's finished. It's the type of story that will stick with you long after you've finished reading it. And best of all, it's the type of story that will remind each reader what's truly important in life, and that it's often not the things we find ourselves getting so caught up in.
The plot, the characters, the setting, the faith element; everything is beautifully written, perfectly developed, and well paced. The ending may not have been what I was initially expecting, but still left me pleasantly surprised, and I can definitely see myself rereading this one in the very near future!
Final Rating: 4/5.
Thanks so much to Revell for allowing me to advance read and review this!
I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary advance reader copy of this novel from the publisher (Revell) in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thanks so much for reading guys! Have a great rest of your day :)
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