Olive Dunn

First things first, You need at least 2 boxes of Kleenex's when reading this book. This story begins in the sixties as we meet young Shelly Fagan, watching her grow up, fall in love and then watch her life fall out from under her. My feelings went smiling and laughing to hating certain people, crying when lives were torn apart, bawling when others were abused , crying again when love is re-found. But there are more feelings to come but you the reader must find these out for yourself. Olive Dunn has beautifully written a book, that makes you think, feel, want, hope, wonder, cry,and laugh. It touches you in a way that I have never seen before. Thank you for this wonderful book.… (altro)

Rounding up to 3.5 stars.

Thanks to the author for this ARC.

I really enjoyed this book about growing up in the 1960s and how it went back and forth between the past and the 1980s.

Shelly had a wonderful life of growing up in a small town with her brother, her friends and her boyfriend Chris in 1967. Times were different in 1967 being pregnant and then she was shipped to a convent school where her mother went to have the baby and she was told she died when the baby was put up for adoption. Then she lived in Paris with her aunt.

Fast forward to 1986, where her brother Steven died years ago in the Vietnam War. She's happily married with two wonderful sons, but still angry with her parents for letting her live without knowing what happened throughout the years. She meets Chris again and is torn between her past life and her current life.

The only thing that I thought was a little far fetched to me was when she was at a baseball game for her son at the school/convent, she goes to a Miss Indiana pageant and the girl who won looks very familiar and I won't give it away, but it's pretty obvious who this girl may be.

I was really not sure how this book was going to end but let's say all was well.… (altro)