Austin Returns with a Multi-Generational Historical Novel
Geesje de Jonge crossed the ocean at age seventeen with her parents and a small group of immigrants from the Netherlands to settle in the Michigan wilderness. Fifty years later, in 1897, she's asked to write a memoir of her early experiences as the town celebrates its anniversary. Reluctant at first, she soon uncovers memories and emotions hidden all these years, including the story of her one true love.
At the nearby Hotel Ottawa Resort on the shore of Lake Michigan, twenty-three-year-old Anna Nicholson is trying to ease the pain of a broken engagement to a wealthy Chicago banker. But her time of introspection is disturbed after a violent storm aboard a steamship stirs up memories of a childhood nightmare. As more memories and dreams surface, Anna begins to question who she is and whether she wants to return to her wealthy life in Chicago. When she befriends a young seminary student who is working at the hotel for the summer, she finds herself asking him all the questions that have been troubling her.
Neither Geesje nor Anna, who are different in every possible way, can foresee the life-altering surprises awaiting them before the summer ends.
My thoughts: I love the way that these two heroines and their stories were woven together in this novel! Austen does a fantastic job of drawing the reader in when we meet Geesje and Anna. I love how Geesje is writing her story as one looking back, while Anna has come to a cross road in her life where she can discover who she is and what she wants to pursue. I feel like the end of the story was really the beginning of a new one for the characters and hope that there will be more to their story! The characters are enjoyable and I like stories like this one where there is a past and present story going on.
I received this book from Bethany House in exchange for my honest review.
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