Enjoyable story that showed the weird stigma and double standard of modeling in the early 20th century, as well as holding a little mystery in the midst of high society family drama. Loved the ending and the history.

I really struggled staying interested in this one, and by the end of it I just flat disliked it. While the historical aspects were interesting and horrific in nature with some of them being based in truth, it took so long to get thru the story line and ultimately felt repetitive and drawn out. It had little spurts of variation and intrigue and then it would slip back into the same theme with very little variation that it just became monotonous and unbelievable.

The ending had so many gaps and holes that didn’t make sense or were not explained, it felt more like the ending was just handed to you like, here’s how we decided to end it, just take it as is! Ugh. And Laure was a ridiculously self-focused and selfish individual who would rather save her own skin over someone else’s. The book would have been a 2 star book until I got to the end and the last 15% just tanked it for me.

It was also frustrating that the lesbian relationship was not tagged on the book genre and characteristics so I was not aware that that’s where we’d end up.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are mine.

I enjoyed the setting of Newport, RI, and neighboring New England as I used to spend a week or two every summer on the coast of RI at my grandfather’s, driving thru NY and New England, so there was a lot familiar here.

Overall, I felt the stories here with the 3 timelines were good but it was pretty predictable. I also felt like it was a little bit of whiplash with Andie and Luke. It was just a really weird progression. I didn’t dislike it but I’ve read other books by the 3 authors I like a lot better.

While the book was a bit slow, it was such a beautiful story of community, and of love and forgiveness. I enjoyed learning about the community of St Kilda - the family and culture they had. Amazing how resilient their people were and how hardworking, and yet incredibly isolated. I really loved how Fred kept talking to Chrissie in his portion of the narrative. It made it feel more personal and heartfelt.

Some mystery along with 4 generations of women trying to navigate broken relationships, trauma, decide whether forgiveness is possible, and fight for those they love. I always love a good story of women fighting *for* each other and not against, even if it’s hard won.

Loved it. There were so many relatable aspects in the book, and it was well written. I was able to put myself in the shoes of the parents at the opening of WW2, who had the unfathomable choice of whether or not to send their children away for their own safety. I still don’t know the choice I’d make, by the way, if I’m honest. I debated the entire book, asking myself what I would do.

I could also feel so strongly for Viv with the horrible environment of her parent’s house and control, wanting so much to whisk her away from it and be on her side. I loved the acceptance she had from the Levinson’s, and their overwhelming compassion, even with Rebecca’s initial bitterness. I hoped so deeply for Viv both in making her own way and in her determination to find her daughter. And I felt both disappointment and compassion towards Joshua as he faced his selfishness and and warred with his decisions. I thought it was beautiful and inspiring the friendships that Viv had in the women around her and how she wasn’t afraid to lean on them when she struggled.

The character development was beautiful. There was so much progression and growth in all the characters. War or any other catastrophic event pushes us to grow - or deteriorate - much faster than we normally would. I felt like this was an accurate rendition of how each character did so and it was beautifully imperfect, as life always is. Really enjoyed this and I had such a hard time putting it down, invested so deeply in the characters from a mother’s point of view.