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"Answering a woman's desperate call for help, young Navy widow Helen Devries opens her Whidbey Island home as a refuge to Choi Eunhee. As they bond over common losses and a delicate, potentially devastating secret, their friendship spans the remainder of their lives. After losing her mother, Cassidy Quinn spent her childhood summers with her gran, Helen, at her farmhouse. Nourished by her grandmother's love and encouragement, Cassidy discovers a passion that she hopes will bloom into a career. But after Helen passes, Cassidy learns that her home and garden have fallen into serious disrepair. Worse, a looming tax debt threatens her inheritance. Cassidy inherits not only the family home but a task, spoken with her grandmother's final breaths: ask Grace Kim - Eunhee's granddaughter - to help sort through the contents of the locked hope chest in the attic. As she and Grace dig into the past, they unearth their grandmothers' long-held secret and more. Each startling revelation reshapes their understanding of their grandmothers and ultimately inspires the courage to take risks and make changes to own their lives. Set in both modern-day and midcentury Whidbey Island, Washington, this dual-narrative story of four women - grandmothers and granddaughters - intertwines across generations to explore the secrets we keep, the love we pass down, and the heirlooms we inherit from a well-lived life."--… (more)
User reviews
Modern day, we meet Cassidy, Helen’s granddaughter, and Grace, Eunhee’s granddaughter. We see their deep friendship and their struggles. For Cassidy it was to do what she needed to keep the family farm and for Grace it was to pass the tests to be a lawyer.
I loved this story. I enjoyed reading of the traditions Eunhee and her ancestors kept and how it affected their families. I enjoyed reading of the meaning of the different flowers and how Cassidy used that knowledge to try to build a business with them. It was inspirational to read how Cassidy bounced back from losing her job and being turned away from the bank. I just loved how the grandmothers did what they had to and how it flowed down through their families.
I voluntarily received a complimentary copy of this book, this is my honest review.
Heirlooms is a story of
Helen readily agrees and Choi stays through her pregnancy. During that time, Choi helps Helen take care of her gardens and teaches Helen about her culture and how to cook. The baby is born but has Down's Syndrome and a heart defect. The baby does not survive.
At present time Cassidy Quinn who is the granddaughter of Helen and Grace is Choi's granddaughter. They have a close relationship. After Helen passes, her farm and everything goes to Cassidy. Grace is a young woman who hopes to be a lawyer but does not pass the bar. Together they are tasked to go through Helen's secrets in a chest in the attic. There they learn that Grace's grandmother had had a child, but she kept that secret from her next husband and family. Grace has a conundrum, does she go to her family with the secrets that she has uncovered.
Cassidy is faced with many obstacles in keeping the farm, taxes loom and the loan has been called in by the bank. With the help of Grace and others, she is able to persevere in her goals to keep the farm and make it a profitable business. Selling flowers and vegetables is what she wants to be successful at.
All of these women have great faith and triumph over the obstacles in their way. Love and loss of course is the main premise of the story, the author is so adept at writing bout the feelings of the characters in her novels. Generations of women are all able to explore the love and friendship that they share.
I love all of Sandra's books, this one though was different from others she has written. Written with compassion and it shows how the friendships we have affects future generations.
I give this book 5 stars!
I really liked Heirlooms and heartily recommend it. You are going to want to talk about it too, so grab a reading buddy or your book club and dig in. (Note: the author has a great book club resource available on her website.)
Highly Recommended.
Audience: adults.
(I purchased this book from Amazon. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)