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From My Shelf - The Things We Wish Were True

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Today I’m sharing with you The Things We Wish Were True by SheReads.org co-founder Marybeth Mayhew Whalen, the SheReads.org Fall bookclub selection, and my fourth 4 star read of the year.

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis from publisher, Lake Union Publishing, paperback, release date September 2016:

“In An Idyllic Small-Town Neighborhood, A Near Tragedy Triggers A Series Of Dark Revelations. From the outside, Sycamore Glen, North Carolina, might look like the perfect all-American neighborhood. But behind the white picket fences lies a web of secrets that reach from house to house. 

Up and down the streets, neighbors quietly bear the weight of their own pasts – until an accident at the community pool upsets the delicate equilibrium. And when tragic circumstances compel a woman to return to Sycamore Glen after years of self-imposed banishment, the tangle of neighbors’ intertwined lives begins to unravel. 

During the course of a sweltering summer, the long-buried secrets are revealed, and the neighbors learn that it’s impossible to really know those closest to us. But is it impossible to love and forgive them?" 

My thoughts:

I live in small town America, though unfortunately it’s also borderline suburbia, as I often call it. But, whether you live in small town America, or suburbia, or in a melting pot of both, no matter where you go, the names and regions change, but every place is altogether at the same time different and the same. We can all relate to neighborhood drama, town tragedies, and community festivities.

How well do you really know your neighbors even when you “know” them? Do ignore those warning bells that go off in your stomach about certain neighbors every time you see them, and look the other way? What goes on inside your own home, inside your own relationships? What do you let the neighbors see? What do you see when you look at your neighbors? Do you envy them, even though you know you’re not showing them the whole truth, so you’re likely not seeing their whole truth when you look at them? So often the things we wish were true aren’t what we need, or are things that already are but just can’t see.

The Things We Wish Were True is a surprising journey, and a fast paced read, with a twist that was so unexpected to me, I went back a bit to reread because I was sure I had missed something. The final chapters wrapped things up neatly, (for the most part!) and did so in a way that left me emotional and glad for the closure. (Sometimes I’m not so fond of neat endings!) This is only the third book I’ve finished since my last She Reads review back in July. (Things have improved with Mom, slowly, but now I have mono, since September, so there’s that to contend with). If you’re looking for a quick and entertaining read this Fall, The Things We Wish Were True is your book!

Did I mention the cover is fantastic? And Marybeth is one of the most gracious women I've ever met?

Links for reference:

Author Facebook
Author Instagram
Author Twitter
(And of course find her at SheReads.org!)

I want to thank Marybeth and Lake Union Publishing for providing me with a free copy of The Things We Wish Were True as a member of the She Reads Blog Network for a fair and honest review. (Opinions are my own, and I am not required by the publisher or She Reads to write a positive review, nor have I received compensation for this review).

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