Wasn’t for me but not bad.

The story paints the setting well with the vibes of a rundown trailer park, fleas, old southern town in the backwoods. It had the common beats of the teenager that’s acting out, the hardened mother with a past, and her smooth-talking manipulative, abuser ex coming back into town.

But I never cared about any of these characters or their journeys here. Also, I fully believe Charlie was the type to be biting kids in the daycare. She just gave off a feral energy.

On the positive, the book had an effectively good portrayal of grooming, codependency, and abandonment issues. There’s probably a character study that could be done on Manny. You see how people get drawn into Manny’s web easily and why Kit is so starved for love and paranoid all the time. But I hated the dialogue and didn’t care too much for the story telling style. ( )

“Kit had survived by keeping a keen and suspicious eye on the present—planning was pointless, regret even more so. No patience for mystery, she dealt in concretes.”

In 1976, nineteen-year-old Kit Walker flees from the scene of an armed robbery leaving her partner Manuel “Manny” Romero behind. Kit, at the time of breaking away from Manny, was pregnant and saw an open opportunity to escape from the toxic and abusive and criminal partnership and took it. Kit and Manny were dubbed the “Texaco Twosome” and were wanted for other robberies they had committed. In 1970, Manny, then in his late 20s befriended Kit when she was barely thirteen years old, a runaway abandoned by her mother as a child and moving through the foster care system. Manny, a small-time criminal and conman, grooms Kit to become his partner in crime and their relationship gradually develops into a more exploitative one.

In 1990, Kit is raising her thirteen-year-old daughter, Charlie, in Pecan Hollow, Texas in the home of her great aunt who has since passed. Her relationship with the community is not particularly cordial and her only friends seem to be the local veterinarian who is also her employer and local law enforcement officer Caleb, of whom she remains wary, given her criminal past which she has shared with no one. Manny had taken the full blame for the crimes and thus she was no longer fearful of arrest. Charlie is a rebellious child who frequently gets into trouble at school and does not have any close friends. Her relationship with her mother is strained and knows nothing about her father. After fourteen years in prison, Manny is released and manages to track them down to Pecan Hollow. Manny supposedly embraced religion while in prison and presents himself as a changed man, God-fearing and devout holding no grudges against Kit. He charms the community with his calm, helpful and friendly demeanor and hopes to reconnect with Kit and Charlie. Kit is conflicted over her feelings for Manny and given her past experiences with him is concerned for her daughter. She is not completely convinced of the new and improved version of Manny. Will Kit and Manny be able to move past their differences? Is Manny truly a changed man or does he have an ulterior motive? Is Kit right in trusting her instincts?

With strong characterizations, a well-structured plot and engaging narrative, Shadows of Pecan Hollow by Caroline Frost is an impressive debut novel. The narrative switches between past and present timelines and covers Kit’s past with Manny (1970-76) and her present life (1990) in Pecan Hollow. Besides Kit, Charlie and Manny, we also meet an interesting cast of characters in the small-town community of Pecan Hollow. This is an intense novel, with dark and disturbing depictions of abusive relationships, sexual exploitation of a minor and gaslighting. However, there are moments of personal triumphs and hope and throughout the novel, I kept rooting for Kit and Charlie. The pace does waver in parts but does not detract from the reading experience. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this story and look forward to reading more from this author in the future. ( )

I really, really loved this book. ( )

Oh, my, the resilience of some people. Kit was abandoned by her mother soon after her birth and Kit spent her childhood in the foster system. When she ran a way from an abusive home life, she is caught trying to steal a takeout bag from a car and she becomes an accomplice of the car’s owner as they rob gas stations. When Manny is arrested at the scene of a bungled burglary, Kit flees. She sets out to look for a great aunt, who accepts her as a daughter and is thrilled Kit is having a baby. But Kit and her daughter, Charlie, have a rough relationship because Kit has such a tough personality, and she doesn’t know how to parent. Pecan Hollow, where Aunt Eleanor lives, is a small east Texas town filled with the usual array of small-town citizen, quick to criticize but also quick to help. When Manny shows up and finds he has a daughter, things become dangerous for Kit and Charlie. At the end, I was so proud of the two who not only had discovered a real mother-daughter relationship but had found a real home in Pecan Hollow. ( )

This book takes you on a journey. It’s not always an easy read, but it’s a really good read. ( )