Thank you so much Gallery Books for providing my free copy – all opinions are my own.
Description:
Tallulah James’s parents’ volatile relationship, erratic behavior, and hands-off approach to child rearing set tongues to wagging in their staid Mississippi town, complicating her already uncertain life. She takes the responsibility of shielding her family’s reputation and raising her younger twin siblings onto her youthful shoulders. If not for the emotional constants of her older brother, Griff, and her old guard Southern grandmother, she would be lost. When betrayal and death arrive hand in hand, she takes to the road, headed to what turns out to be the not-so-promised land of Southern California. The dysfunction of her childhood still echoes throughout her scattered family, sending her brother on a disastrous path and drawing her home again. There she uncovers the secrets and lies that set her family on the road to destruction.
My Review:
This is such a lovely book and Susan Crandall is a master storyteller. Set in the backdrop of Mississippi during the 1960s civil rights movement, the story centers around Tallulah James and her dysfunctional family. Tallulah returns home after seven years because her younger brother is accused of murder. Although her older brother and her grandmother were her steadfast support, she had a very unstable and tumultuous childhood as her parent’s relationship was volatile and her father suffered from mental illness. So Tallulah left all those years ago to escape her past and reinvent herself in California. The story is a very realistic, emotional, and accurate portrayal of a family going through extreme turmoil with an exquisitely written protagonist.
I loved every single thing about this book. The story is told from Tallulah’s perspective alternating seamlessly between her childhood and the present day. I adored Tallulah’s character as I found her to be complex, emotive, and real. The most interesting aspect of this story is the flawless and brilliant way Crandall writes the different reactions of all the siblings to their erratic childhoods. All of the characters were written with amazing depth and the story’s setting is vivid and descriptive. THE MYTH OF PERPETUAL SUMMER is essentially a coming-of-age story about a woman who was not able to deal with her adverse childhood in a family she cares for and loves. I cannot recommend this book enough.
My rating is 5 out of 5 stars!
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