This is one of those stories that the reader just has to keep turning the pages to find what will happen next; lots of unexpected things drop from the skies. It starts out simply enough -- A drunk sells his property twice and then dies. Because that drunk owed so much money, the two people who bought the building could not recoup their cash -- they had to share the structure. Thus, Edwina Huntington and Tom Wolcott find themselves co-owners.
Edwina is going to open a finishing school for young ladies; Tom is ready to open a sporting goods store -- the first in the area. Edwina has an interesting back story; she went off to business college and has a wonderful time -- kicking up her heels in the freer environment of Chicago. She had to come back to Harmony to care for her dying mother and figure out a way to pay her deceased parents' medical bills. Because Edwina was from a small town where everyone knew and judged others, she knew she had to keep her previous experiences a secret. She also felt that some of her hi-jinks made her ineligible for marriage (she saw herself as a fallen woman) and she'd come to accept that.
Tom is handsome, self-assured and a bit irritated by the prim and proper Edwina. He wants to pull her tail a bit. When Edwina paints her half of the building yellow and white, with lovely lacy curtains, Tom decides to make a statement. And he does!
This is a great Americana tale. It takes time for them to get together; and that is realistic. When Tom and Edwina start skirting the marriage issue, a boulder shows up in their midst. Tom doesn't want his wife to work and Edwin refuses to be totally dependent on her husband. This is such an accurate theme for the time; the long-held values of Americans were changing as the new century arrived.
This is the first book I've read by Stef Ann Holm (although I've read one or two of her short stories) and I was impressed with the humor and great dialogue in this novel. It is a very satisfying book. 4.5 stars
Edwina is going to open a finishing school for young ladies; Tom is ready to open a sporting goods store -- the first in the area. Edwina has an interesting back story; she went off to business college and has a wonderful time -- kicking up her heels in the freer environment of Chicago. She had to come back to Harmony to care for her dying mother and figure out a way to pay her deceased parents' medical bills. Because Edwina was from a small town where everyone knew and judged others, she knew she had to keep her previous experiences a secret. She also felt that some of her hi-jinks made her ineligible for marriage (she saw herself as a fallen woman) and she'd come to accept that.
Tom is handsome, self-assured and a bit irritated by the prim and proper Edwina. He wants to pull her tail a bit. When Edwina paints her half of the building yellow and white, with lovely lacy curtains, Tom decides to make a statement. And he does!
This is a great Americana tale. It takes time for them to get together; and that is realistic. When Tom and Edwina start skirting the marriage issue, a boulder shows up in their midst. Tom doesn't want his wife to work and Edwin refuses to be totally dependent on her husband. This is such an accurate theme for the time; the long-held values of Americans were changing as the new century arrived.
This is the first book I've read by Stef Ann Holm (although I've read one or two of her short stories) and I was impressed with the humor and great dialogue in this novel. It is a very satisfying book. 4.5 stars
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