The book was alright. I love when an author weaves the present with the past and this author does it beautifully. Anyone who grew up attending an Evangelical youth group in the 90's will appreciate the present day story and all the Christian-pop-culture references. I gave a huge eye-roll to the plot twist (to be fair I DID NOT see that coming). And quickly grew frustrated with the damaging roll the church played in the main characters life, this particular church sure takes the cake! And I found it so sad that this part of the story did not get resolved. Maybe that is more true to life though as this part of the story did feel the most authentic. I enjoyed reading the 'past story' more, historical fiction is my jam and knew nothing of the Berachah Home before this novel. Overall, I just wasn't that into this novel.

Looking forward to reading this! The inspiration for the novel comes from a Home of the same name in my hometown, Arlington.
LVCCLD staff- if this is chosen as a book club book, I’d love to know. Thanks! 😊

I simultaneously think this is a good book, and also did not enjoy reading it that much. That makes no sense, but hear me out: I think Kibler did a lot of impressive research and brought turn of the century Texas vividly to life; I love that these women's stories are being told; but this book is heavy, and I might not have been in entirely the right mood for it. It also employs the (ever-popular) past/present alternating chapters device, and for once I found the chapters told in the present day to be a more tightly woven, cohesive story than the historical timeline. Having said that, I think there's absolutely an audience for this book -- fans of Orphan Train, for example, will likely find this engrossing.