February 2, 2021

The Daughters of Erietown

 



Fiction
2020 Random House Audio
Read by Cassandra Campbell
Finished on January 30, 2021
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

1957, Clayton Valley, Ohio. Ellie has the best grades in her class. Her dream is to go to nursing school and marry Brick McGinty. A basketball star, Brick has the chance to escape his abusive father and become the first person in his blue-collar family to attend college. But when Ellie learns that she is pregnant, everything changes. Just as Brick and Ellie revise their plans and build a family, a knock on the front door threatens to destroy their lives.

The evolution of women’s lives spanning the second half of the 20th century is at the center of this beautiful novel that richly portrays how much people know - and pretend not to know - about the secrets at the heart of a town, and a family.

One of the best things about the blogging community is discovering books that have been recommended by my friends that I might not otherwise have known about. I believe it was JoAnn (Gulfside Musings) who first mentioned The Daughters of Erietown and after reading her review, I quickly added it to my Libro.fm queue. 

After listening to the first few chapters of Connie Schultz's debut novel, I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue, but I kept listening and I'm glad I didn't give up on the book. I came to care about Ellie and her daughter Sam and was eager to see what the future had in store for each of them. The book was somewhat predictable, but I really enjoyed it. Casandra Campbell is one of my favorite audiobook readers and her performance is well-done.

8 comments:

  1. I rated it the same I think, I liked it but didn't love it, a nice story though.

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    1. I didn't love it either, Diane, but it was worthwhile, especially on audio.

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  2. This sounds good! I love books about family,I may read it sometime.

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    1. Vicki, it was good! I didn't care for Brick's character, but the women are strong and very likeable.

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  3. Glad you stuck with it, Les. Cassandra Campbell is one of my favorite narrators and the book itself ended up being a favorite last year.

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    1. Brick was such a jerk, but I enjoyed the other characters' stories, so I could overlook his unlikeable traits. Yes, Cassandra Campbell is a wonderful reader. Thanks for turning me on to this book, JoAnn!

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  4. I love family dramas so this has to go on my list too!

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    1. Iliana, there's definitely a lot of family drama... :)

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