Author: Linda Little
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Roseway Publishing
Publish Date: April 15, 2014
Source: HF Virtual Book Tours
What's the Story?:
From Goodreads.com: "“This is the story of how you were loved,” Penelope MacLaughlin whispers to her granddaughter.
Penelope MacLaughlin marries a miller and gradually discovers he is not as she imagined. Nonetheless she remains determined to make the best of life at the lonely mill up the Gunn Brook as she struggles to build a home around her husband’s eccentricities. His increasing absence leaves Penelope to run the mill herself, providing her with a living but also destroying the people she loves most. Penelope struggles with loss and isolation, and suffers the gradual erosion of her sense of self. A series of betrayals leaves her with nothing but the mill and her determination to save her grandchildren from their disturbed father. While she can prepare her grandsons for independence, her granddaughter is too young and so receives the greater gift: the story that made them all."
My Two Cents:
"Grist" is a really interesting historical fiction tale that will be perfect for those looking for strong and memorable characters and great historical detail. Penelope believes that she is going to be alone as a spinster schoolteacher until Ewan comes to town. Ewan fascinates Penelope and intrigues her. They fall quickly for each other and there is no question that Penelope will leave what she knows and go to live with Ewan. Things with him are not at all what they seem though.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and a big part of that was how much I enjoyed the characters. Penelope was such an interesting character to me and I really loved reading about her in this book. She felt really real to me. I liked that the author gave her a lot of uniqueness. She isn't perfect but she is honest (at least with the reader). I liked reading about how she changes throughout the book. I also really liked that the story was told from her perspective, which really helped me to dive into the story. Ewan is also an interesting character. At first I thought that he was just a super pious man but it turns out that he is hiding a lot of secrets that make up some of the huge twists in the book.
There were a lot of twists and turns in this book, which I definitely liked. I love when a book can keep me on my toes. Both Penelope and Ewan are hiding a lot from each other and it was really great to see how their secrets unfolded in the book.
I also really liked the setting and the description of the setting. Penelope leads a relatively lonely life at the Mill but the setting really sounded pretty. This book definitely made for some good armchair traveling!
Follow the Rest of the Tour:
Monday, April 14
Interview & Giveaway at Passages to the Past
Tuesday, April 15
Review at Reading the Past
Guest Post at Closed the Cover
Wednesday, April 16
Review at Confessions of an Avid Reader
Thursday, April 17
Guest Post & Giveaway at Confessions of an Avid Reader
Monday, April 21
Review & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages
Guest Post & Giveaway at A Bookish Affair
Tuesday, April 22
Review at A Bookish Affair
Wednesday, April 23
Review at Flashlight Commentary
Review & Giveaway at The True Book Addict
Thursday, April 24
Review at CelticLady’s Reviews
Spotlight & Giveaway at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time
Friday, April 25
Guest Post & Giveaway at Historical Fiction Connection
Nice review -- I'll have to add this to the TBR!
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