Review: Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters by Emily Carpenter

The bestselling author of Burying the Honeysuckle Girls returns to uncover a faith healer’s elusive and haunted past.

Dove Jarrod was a renowned evangelist and faith healer. Only her granddaughter, Eve Candler, knows that Dove was a con artist. In the eight years since Dove’s death, Eve has maintained Dove’s charitable foundation—and her lies. But just as a documentary team wraps up a shoot about the miracle worker, Eve is assaulted by a vengeful stranger intent on exposing what could be Dove’s darkest secret: murder…

Tuscaloosa, 1934: a wily young orphan escapes the psychiatric hospital where she was born. When she joins the itinerant inspirational duo the Hawthorn Sisters, the road ahead is one of stirring new possibilities. And with an obsessive predator on her trail, one of untold dangers. For a young girl to survive, desperate choices must be made.

Now, to protect her family, Eve will join forces with the investigative filmmaker and one of Dove’s friends, risking everything to unravel the truth behind the accusations against her grandmother. But will the truth set her free or set her world on fire? 

Kindle Edition

Expected publication: October 20th 2020

by Lake Union Publishing

3.5/5 stars

The Weight of Lies was my introduction to Emily Carpenter, an intriguing mystery that kept me glues to the pages.

Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters is a dual time period story about Dove Jarrod and her granddaughter Eve.  There is a lot going on, Dove escaping from an asylum and her journey to become a famous faith healer.  It's the family secrets that face exposure that forces Eve to uncover the truth before damage can be done.

I really enjoyed the historical setting, it was during the 1930's that Dove's story begins.  There are revival meetings in the south that added charm but at times I was overwhelmed with the large cast of characters. The past story line was my favourite, there was a little bit of mystery, southern charm and an era with its faith healers that interested me, I would have loved for the whole book to take place in 1934.

It wasn't until afterwards that I realised this is the sequel to The Honeysuckle Girls (which I haven't read). Though Revival worked as a stand along I do wonder if I knew more about Dove if it would have impacted this read.

Revival of the Hawthorn Sisters releases today and available for purchase.

My thanks to Lake Union Publishing (via Netgalley) for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Audio Review: The Weight of Lies by Emily Carpenter

In this gripping, atmospheric family drama, a young woman investigates the forty­-year­-old murder that inspired her mother’s bestselling novel, and uncovers devastating truths—and dangerous lies.

Reformed party girl Meg Ashley leads a life of privilege, thanks to a bestselling horror novel her mother wrote decades ago. But Meg knows that the glow of their very public life hides a darker reality of lies, manipulation, and the heartbreak of her own solitary childhood. Desperate to break free of her mother, Meg accepts a proposal to write a scandalous, tell-all memoir.

Digging into the past—and her mother’s cult classic—draws Meg to Bonny Island, Georgia, and an unusual woman said to be the inspiration for the book. At first island life seems idyllic, but as Meg starts to ask tough questions, disturbing revelations come to light…including some about her mother.

Soon Meg’s search leads her to question the facts of a decades-old murder. She’s warned to leave it alone, but as the lies pile up, Meg knows she’s getting close to finding a murderer. When her own life is threatened, Meg realizes the darkness found in her mother’s book is nothing compared to the chilling truth that lurks off the page.

 Kindle Edition, 382 pages 

Published June 6th 2017 

by Lake Union Publishing

****

I was drawn to this book because of the intriguing cover and recommendation from other blogs that I follow (the Baking Bookworm to be exact). I opted for the audio version with my fingers crossed that this would be told in first person, thankfully it was (it's one of my favorite views in audio, I felt like Meg was telling me her story here).

The Weight of Lies is an intriguing story with Meg Ashley trying to break free of her mother's hold by writing a tell all story of her life with a famous author/mother. What really happened forty years ago that inspired her to write this best-selling book that is still just as popular today? As Meg digs deeper it doesn't take long for it to become apparent that someone would like to stop her. As I tried to unravel the mystery myself the author made it difficult with twist and turns as well as characters I wasn't confident which I could trust.

The chapters alternated between excerpts from Kitten (the famous novel) and the other from Meg's point of view. This was handled smoothly in the audio version with distinct chapter headings making it easier to follow the story.

The location was interesting here, Bonny Island, the reader is treated to nice visuals displaying not just its suspicious/creepy side but also it wasn't hard to visualize the beauty with beaches, wild horses and nature.

The author pulled me right in with this book filled with family secrets, murder and mayhem plus a touch of romance.  This is my first time reading anything by Emily Carpenter, definitely an author I will read more of.

This audio was from my personal library (via Audible) and comes in at 11 hours and 57 minutes, the reader is Kate Orsini - she did a great job reading this one.