Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters

Don't Let 'Gothic' Scare You Here. I picked this book up on the strength of the publisher, Lake Union. But honestly, the marketing scared me a bit with the emphasis on calling this a 'gothic' book. When I think 'gothic', I think Edgar Allan Poe or perhaps fellow LU book The Companion by Kim Taylor Blakemore - period pieces set in the late 19th/ early 2oth century in old buildings. <br/><br/>This book... wasn't that. Yes, it uses an old-school sanitarium as the place of its beginnings - an orphan managed to escape there long ago, and in the present timeline, that orphan's granddaughter is now trying to redeem the building.<br/><br/>But really, the story here is told in dual timelines and features one woman just trying to survive in Great Depression/ WWII era Alabama, while the other woman tries to solve a mystery over the legacy of the first woman in modern day Alabama. In other words, standard-ish dual-timeline women's fiction - and really solidly written story that sucks you right in. <br/><br/>Growing up in the region in modern ish times, I could absolutely see much of this book playing out largely the way it did, the cultural touchpoints were truly spot on in both the period and modern touches.<br/><br/>Ultimately a strong work, and very much recommended.