The Brighter the Light
[{'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': "Depression era families were excellent secret keepers, and the smaller, more closely knit the community, the greater the chance of those secrets never seeing the light of day. But when the grandmother who raised Ivy Neale leaves her seaside cottage to Ivy, generations of family's secrets are slowly revealed.\n\nRuth Wheeler grew up working at her parents' Seaside Resort in Nags Head, NC. Edna and Jake were always honest with Ruth about how they came to be her parents – thanks to a woman leaving a baby wrapped in a pink blanket at one of the resort’s cottages in the dark of night.\n\nIvy Neale left Seaside Resort and Nags Head the day after her high school graduation. Only after her grandmother, Ruth, dies does Ivy return home. Ruth's cottage is cluttered with decades of jetsam from the closed Seaside Resort and personal effects collected over a lifetime. As Ivy sorts through the remains of a bygone era, the secrets of her family’s past begin to unravel, binding Ivy to the home she abandoned in ways she never could have imagined.\n\nTold primarily from a twelve-year-old Ruth and current-day Ivy's perspectives, we learn about pivotal events from the summer of 1950 that significantly impact Ivy's life. With shipwrecks, ghosts, and summer tourists, we find that family will go to greater lengths than we could ever imagine in the name of supporting and protecting each other.\n\nOnce again, this masterful storyteller lures the reader in with a laid-back, comfortable style while doling out bits of information that leave the reader hanging on every word. She makes us long for simpler times while illuminating the importance of keeping family history alive for generations to come. Poignant, mesmerizing, and full of heart, this extraordinary saga of family, legacy, and home makes for an enticing reading escape and will be one of your absolute favorite reads this year."}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': "This dual time line novel gives us Ruth's story in 1950 and her granddaughter Ivy's story in 2022 and they center around the Seaside Resort in Nags Head, North Carolina. Both time lines are very interesting and well written and blended together perfectly.\n\nRuth is 12 years old and living in Nags Head. Her parents own a small motel and she works hard to keep the rooms clean and the renters happy. She's an only child and lonely but this summer, her 14 year old cousin, Tally, has come from the mountains to help out at the Seaside Resort and they become friends. That summer of 1950 was totally booked at the Seaside resort and even though Ruth and Tally work hard, they always find time for adventure. This summer is different from previous years - an old shipwreck appeared on the beach after a big storm. Plus a beautiful singer, Carlotta comes to the hotel to be the entertainer for a few weeks.\n\nIvy has returned to the Outer Banks after the death of her grandmother, Ruth. Her plan is to clean out Ruth's house, sell the cottage and go back to New York. She had lefts Nags head right after high school graduation and left behind her two best friends with no explanations of why she was leaving. They haven't forgiven her for leaving them and she knows that she'll need to face them.. After a large storm, the same shipwreck is washed up on the beach and creates a lot of interest for people in the area. As Ruth goes through her grandmothers piles of junk, she finds some gems that help her understand the mystery of her grandmother's early life.\n\nBoth Ruth and Ivy were braver and more tenacious than they realized. They both spent their childhoods working at the Seaside Resort and they are both trying to uncover secrets from past generations. Ruth wants to find out who her birth mother is and thinks it may be Carlotta. Ivy wants to find out about her grandmother's life and finds that Ruth has left her some hints in the stacks of stuff that she had in her home. Ivy also has to contend with two old friends and a potential romance when she is forced to decide whether to go back to NYC or stay in the Outer Banks.\n\nWhat can be better than a southern fiction novel to read during a cold and dreary winter day. Southern fiction is my favorite genre and somehow I missed Mary Ellen Taylor's books. She's now on my list of favorite southern authors and I won't miss another one of her books in the future and plan to order some of her earlier books. This book is full of secrets, family, lost friends and missed opportunities over two generations of the same family. If you enjoy a great book with likable characters, you don't want to miss this book!"}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'I always love a good read that is set at the beach. This was a tale with a number of twists and storylines, but truly enjoyed it and couldn’t put it down. I greatly appreciated that there was no profanity or overt sexual themes. Thank you!'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-4 review-rating', 'review_body': "I immediately was drawn in by this author's writing style. She is descriptive yet not too flowery and the story moves along at a good pace while at the same time opening a window into beautiful North Carolina seaside surroundings and characters.\n\nThe book starts off with more literary prose, without overwhelming the reader with unnecessary details or long-winded paragraphs of background, and gradually eases into a easily flowing mix of crisp description and dialogue, which moves the book along.\n\nThe book does jump back and forth between modern times and the summer of 1950, which is generally not my favorite type of story-telling. However, this does allow important details to become known to the reader in a way that feels more natural and without overloading the reader with heavy paragraphs of background information within the modern part of the story. The book is more two stories in one; the past story providing the background for the present story.\n\nOverall a very enjoyable read; nothing profound but a good book. Except for a few awkward sentences, which I had to reread to make sense of, and a few times I had to stop and backtrack to see who was speaking, the writing is good and the story flows at a good speed. Solid 4 stars.\n\nFor those who are bothered by language, there is some unneeded profanity sprinkled throughout."}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'I got this digital book free in June 2022 as part of my Prime membership. This is the first one that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed of all the ones I’ve gotten for free. I could not stop reading. I’m retired and have lots of free time and am so grateful for this Prime benefit. I read history fiction, esp. romance, where I also learn new things. I also get some wonderful quotes from books. I like the way this was written. So much so that I’m looking to buying another Kindle book by this author. So much fun going back and forth from the present to the past. A very entertaining read. Try it, you’ll like it if you like romance and history lessons in your fiction.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-1 review-rating', 'review_body': 'The story was hood, but I found her use of the name of Jesus as a curse word objectionable and so did not finish the book. Too bad, it appeared to be a go I d read.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-2 review-rating', 'review_body': "Eh\n\nI usually like that first reads gets me to read books outside my favorite genres, but I read this and I still have no idea what the whole point of the story was. I thought it was going to be a 'finding yourself' story from the description, but if the heroine found her place in the world, which is debatable, it occurred in the epilogue not the actual book. I guess I would classify this book as a women's fiction book with concurrent stories set in 2022 with 29-year-old Ivy Neale as a heroine, and set in 1950 with her grandmother, Ruth Wheeler as a 12-year-old. Both stories are told from multiple viewpoints and family secrets are revealed. I'm just kind of left there thinking so what. Also, I found the current day heroine too wishy washy. I didn't feel I knew, understood, or believed her character at all. Overall, partly not my cup of tea, partly objective issues with the book.\n\n<b>*****Spoiler Alert*****</b>\n<u>This Book Includes\nViolence.</u> Attempted rape thwarted, domestic abuse, murder by drowning.\n<u>Sex.</u> None - brief reference to losing virginity, after kisses a guy he leaves in morning."}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': "The Amazon Prime First Reads books for June didn't have a lot that captured my interest, but this one seemed like the best of the bunch, so I selected it. I am very glad I did. The writing was excellent. The story captured my attention. The back and forth in the timeline was very well documented and separated. And served to move the story forward well each time it switched. I loved the feel of the story - the pacing, the attention paid to the environment, the twists and turns, the development of the characters. It all seemed perfect to me. Note that it is not a fast paced book. Certainly not my usual kind of read (mysteries, science fiction, fantasy). There were a couple of loose ends - but nothing that detracted from the story or the overall resolution. Overall - I loved it! I stayed up late to finish it - which is my highest praise."}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'I loved this book. Told in a dual timeline, it is the story of Ruth in 1950 and her granddaughter, Ivy, in 2022, at the family owned Seaside Resort. As the story unfolds, more and more secrets and connections are uncovered. Ivy had her share of regrets to seek forgiveness for, and learning more about her late grandmother helped her to move forward. There are family relationships and drama, friendships that have had their share of trials, and dreams to realize. I enjoyed the author’s great detail and multi-layered story. Wonderful entertainment!'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'I immensely enjoyed this story. Set in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the story revolves around The Seaside Resort on Nags Head. It’s told in a dual timeline with narratives from Ruth in the 1950s and her granddaughter Ivy in 2022.\n\nWhen Ivy inherits her Grandmother’s cottage, she returns home after a stint as a New York City chef to sort the remains of the family resort before selling the home. Just like the local shipwreck that occasionally appears offshore after a storm, family secrets arise that stir Ivy’s curiosity. She is determined to solve the many past mysteries before she again abandons her life on the Outer Banks.\n\nIvy must confront her past mistakes and memories. Can she forgive her best friend for marrying her ex-boyfriend after she left them for a different future than the one they planned? Will she find a way to forgive herself for abandoning her best friends and Grandma Ruth? Is love lurking on the coast for Ivy?\n\nWhile sorting her feelings and the remnants of Ruth’s life at the Seaside Resort, Ivy finds clues to the many mysteries lingering from the past. Will she be able to piece together the bits of detritus to finally understand what made her grandmother into the woman, innkeeper, and surrogate mother Ivy loved so much?\n\nThe author’s writing style is well-suited to the tale. It’s descriptive without becoming overly flowery. The pace reminds me of time spent on the coast. Slow and steady, yet as riveting as the crashing waves, the story unfolded until I couldn’t stop reading. I was so captured by the tale that I purchased the audiobook, allowing me to switch between the Kindle and my headset, ensuring I still finished my chores when I couldn’t bear to put the book down.\n\nThe characters open up to reveal their thoughts, feelings, and flaws. I understood their motivation, and the story prompted a few nostalgic memories of my own summer vacations as a youngster. There is something quite magical about looking at our youthful past from the advantage of age.\n\nMysteries provide the main focus in this delightful family saga. The storyline is strong enough to support the many characters and their secrets, creating a story that will surely be one of my top reads of the year. I hope my review entices you to learn more about The Brighter the Light.\n\n*There is a family tree at the end of the book, which will help you put the ending in perspective, but I highly suggest you wait until you have finished the book to check it out. It contains crucial info that will spoil the great ending the author has written for you.*\n\nReaders are always welcome on my website. If you visit, please join the chatter about this book.'}]