Eileen  Brill

Historical fiction inspired by a letter found in the bedroom wall of the author’s home in 2007. Researching the name on the personalized stationery led to learning that the letter from Joan Dumann written as a teenager living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a boy in New Jersey was never mailed. In researching Joan’s life the author has crafted a compelling story of how Joan’s life might have transpired piecing together facts with creativity to lead the reader into the drama of one woman’s life journey.

Joan was born in 1915 to a prominent Quaker family and her life transpired through memorable times in history from an influenza pandemic to Prohibition to the Great Depression to the Vietnam era. Marrying a husband that inherited a family furniture business, Joan delighted in helping her husband with the business and in her eyes was an equal partner. With the birth of her first child she became a stay-at-home mother and felt the isolation in the loss of adult contact and connections as well as the loss of her husband’s confidences in sharing business conversations. Joan began to make choices that quickly became a pattern for the rest of her life.

A portrayal of the societal norms of the day through transitional and transformational periods of American history, family expectations based on religion and societal influences of social class, and a woman’s desire to achieve and contribute in business. It is a stark and dramatic reminder that decisions made along one’s life journey sometimes have long-reaching and unanticipated consequences. Many will judge choices made and sometimes only a few will understand. It also illuminates that a fulfilling life is different for each person.

My sincere thanks to Eileen Brill, and SparkPress for my complimentary digital copy of this title, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

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