Title: The Sound of Glass
Author: Karen White
Published: May 12, 2015 by NAL
Pages: 432
Source: Own copy
Rating: 4/5
Goodreads
It has been two years since the death of Merritt Heyward’s husband, Cal, when she receives unexpected news—Cal’s family home in Beaufort, South Carolina, bequeathed by Cal’s reclusive grandmother, now belongs to Merritt.
Charting the course of an uncertain life—and feeling guilt from her husband’s tragic death—Merritt travels from her home in Maine to Beaufort, where the secrets of Cal’s unspoken-of past reside among the pluff mud and jasmine of the ancestral Heyward home on the Bluff. This unknown legacy, now Merritt’s, will change and define her as she navigates her new life—a new life complicated by the arrival of her too young stepmother and ten-year-old half-brother.
Soon, in this house of strangers, Merritt is forced into unraveling the Heyward family past as she faces her own fears and finds the healing she needs in the salt air of the Low Country.
My review:
I recently listened to another Karen White book on audio, and while I did enjoy it, I found this one to be so much more substantial! White is a wonderful storyteller, who creates visions in her books that you feel that you could just step into. You are absorbed into the story and carried along with the characters. This book was not all southern sweetness though. It starts with a horrific plane crash that one character spends a lifetime reliving. It also speaks to the issue of domestic violence, in this case the type that is handed down from generation to generation. Along with what you are probably thinking is all doom and gloom, there are many bright spots of beauty within the pages. From the beautiful wind chimes and the amazingly real dioramas created by the matriarch of Heyward house, to the life prophecies and advice in her Journal of Truths written by Merritt's stepmother. There were many great characters in this book, one of my favorites being Merritt's ten year old stepbrother. There is a mystery mired within the pages, which was fulfilling once it was revealed, but lordy it took forever to get to 🙂 I especially liked that while there was romance, it was not a focus of the book.
A truly good read, with a great emphasis on domestic violence, and an overall theme of forgiveness.
So looking forward to this - just waiting for the paperback to make its mark on the world. Saw so many reviews when it first came out I knew I wanted to read it. Ha - oh dear, taking so long to get to happy! Sounds like I am in for angst.
I know she has a new book coming out the end of May, so hopefully you won't have to wait too much longer for the paperback of this to release. It's not that it takes a long time to get to happy, it's that it takes a long time for the mystery to be revealed 🙂 Hope you enjoy.
I've been back and forth on this one. I want to try the author but I was afraid this one might be too dark. It sounds like there is darkness to it but that there's plenty of light too. I'm looking forward to reading it!
I would definitely recommend this one over the other two I have read by her, which were kind of your typical contemporary romance kind of book. They were good, but this one is better.