BOOK BY: Sandra Byrd
An interesting dual time story that follows the friendships of Helen and Euhnee, grandmothers to Cassidy and Grace.
The historical story takes place in 1958 on the small island of Whidbey where there’s a Naval hospital. Both Helen and Euhnee are navy widows, who forge a friendship out of necessity and survival. Helen welcomes Euhnee, a Korean national who married an American, to her farm. The women develop an interesting friendship through their work in Helen’s garden.
Cassidy is grieving her grandmother’s death and invites her best friend Grace to stay at her grandmother’s farm with her. She has plans to return to Seattle, but as she sorts through her grandmother’s things, she realizes what she’s been missing in her life back in Seattle. Cassidy and Grace have been best friends for years, but the summer they spend together at her grandmother’s farm is one that will forge new bonds and create a new dynamic in their friendship.
This story exposes the treatment of immigrants, children with down syndrome, and the deplorable condition/medical care in institutions. It’s a novel of friendship, family, and helping the helpless. When a family secret is exposed in the contemporary story, it serves as a catalyst for one character to discover her passion.
Vivid descriptions bring the readers into Cassidy’s world of flowers and their meanings. The easy narrative brings Helen’s work as a nurse to life, and readers can’t help but to want to see sweet Euhnee find relief from sorrow.
I received an ecopy from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.