BLOG TOUR & REVIEW: Dreams of Falling by Karen White @berkleypub @karenwhitewrite
Dreams of Falling
by Karen White
Happy to be today's stop on the Blog Tour!
I love Karen White! This is the perfect book for what I need right now.
Learn about the book, the author and my thoughts so far below.
Publisher: Berkley Books
Publish Date: June 5, 2018
Hardcover
416 pages
Genre: Women's Fiction
1950s Georgetown, South Carolina. Lifelong best friends Ceecee, Margaret, and Bitty graduate from high school, bound by their shared dreams . . . wishes they write on ribbons and tie to an old tree. Constrained by small town expectations, they plan a last grab at freedom: a graduation trip to Myrtle Beach. But one night on the boardwalk will change everything; and the sacrifices that follow will ripple through three generations.
Present day. Larkin Lanier left Georgetown at 18, promising she’d never return. But when her mother Ivy disappears, Larkin is called back to her hometown. And when Ivy is found unconscious on the site of their family’s abandoned rice plantation, Larkin’s search for answers—why was her mother at Carrowmore?—lead her to a ribbon left in the girls’ old wishing tree: I know about Margaret. What happens next triggers Larkin’s unraveling of fifty-year-old secrets . . . secrets so dark they remain unspoken even amongst the three friends who share them.
After playing hooky one day in the seventh grade to read Gone With the Wind, Karen White knew she wanted to be a writer—or become Scarlett O'Hara. In spite of these aspirations, Karen pursued a degree in business and graduated cum laude with a BS in Management from Tulane University. Ten years later, after leaving the business world, she fulfilled her dream of becoming a writer and wrote her first book. In the Shadow of the Moon was published in August, 2000. Her books have since been nominated for numerous national contests including the SIBA (Southeastern Booksellers Alliance) Fiction Book of the Year, and has twice won the National Readers’ Choice Award.
Karen is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author and currently writes what she refers to as ‘grit lit’—Southern women’s fiction—and has also expanded her horizons into writing a mystery series set in Charleston, South Carolina. Her 22nd novel, THE GUESTS ON SOUTH BATTERY, was published January 10, 2017 by Berkley Publishing, a division of Penguin Random House Publishing Group.
Karen hails from a long line of Southerners but spent most of her growing up years in London, England and is a graduate of the American School in London. When not writing, she spends her time reading, scrapbooking, playing piano, and avoiding cooking. She currently lives near Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and two children, and two spoiled Havanese dogs.
My Thoughts:
These stories of immense friendship between women that transcend time are some of my favorites. I've said this before, but I think we all have those special relationships that you know will last a lifetime. Books like this remind me of mine and how your closest friends are not just friends, but family.
This book goes back and forth from past to present and seems to be giving the full story of these women and the secrets they keep. Throw in some southern charm and what can I say - I'm a happy camper. In every group, people play their role. There's always the rebel, the pretty one and the one who cared too much but never felt like the front runner. Here we find Bitty, Margaret and Ceecee respectively. Things are different in 1951 and the things friends sacrifice to help their friends are things we, today, probably wouldn't even consider. Especially the sense of honor in the South. White brings these aspects to the page graciously and I felt like I was in Georgetown with these ladies. Each character came to life and the pictures in my head were vivid with imagery. (I wanted to throat punch Jackson EVERY TIME he came into the picture and pictured Bennet as a Chris Pratt type 😍). Larkin, who is lucky enough to have all of these women as (grand)mother figures, is still trying to find her way and coming back to her past she thought she had successfully ran away from opens up doors, eyes and hearts.
While the secrets learned throughout the story weren't necessarily shocking.. they felt extremely REAL and HUMAN and that, for me, sometimes makes the book even better. Feel these women, what they've gone through and how they'll be "friends forever". It's true that sometimes jealousy can be ascribed to admiration. If you're superstitious at all, be very careful what you wish for - it just might come all too true.
While the secrets learned throughout the story weren't necessarily shocking.. they felt extremely REAL and HUMAN and that, for me, sometimes makes the book even better. Feel these women, what they've gone through and how they'll be "friends forever". It's true that sometimes jealousy can be ascribed to admiration. If you're superstitious at all, be very careful what you wish for - it just might come all too true.
Highly recommend for those who love some historical, some romance and a lot of friendship.
★★★★
★★★★
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