Summer State of Mind by Kristy Woodson Harvey

Robin’s Rave Reviews 2026

SUMMER STATE OF MIND by Kristy Woodson Harvey is a wonderful feel-good escape, well worth the time, and perfect for sunbathing at the beach or your own backyard this summer.

Women’s fiction – Contemporary Romance – Family Drama – Beach Read

Book Summary

Daisy Stevens, a NICU nurse, finds caring for newborns with extra needs very rewarding. However, the emotional strain of a particular case leads Daisy to move to Cape Carolina, North Carolina, to start fresh with a new nursing job.

High school baseball coach Mason Thaysden struggles with his dashed dream of pitching in the major leagues after an injury. Stuck in his hometown coaching, he needs to find meaning in life beyond the teenagers he’s impacting.

On Daisy’s first day of her new job, Mason and his star player bring in a newborn they found in a dumpster behind the high school. Mason’s concern for the baby connects him to nurse Daisy who is becoming extremely attached to this little girl. Based on her own childhood experience, she doesn’t want baby Jane Doe to ever feel unwanted.

Hoping to adopt the baby, Daisy requests to foster her after being released from the hospital. Mason begins to see the possibility of a family with Daisy and the baby. Under the influence of demons from her past, Daisy struggles between what she wants and what’s best for the baby, and she tries to rationalize that they’re the same thing. All the while, she knows social services could take the baby from her if the parents step up or someone else is approved for the adoption.

Mason makes a huge step by introducing Daisy to his big, crazy family, including his Aunt Tilley. Aunt Tilley has been emotionally tethered to a loss in her early days and a deep family secret. She makes huge steps in healing when she’s cast as the title role in a community production of Hello, Dolly!

Meanwhile, as Daisy and Mason begin to realize who the baby’s parents are, life turns messier than a diaper!

My Thoughts

I loved Summer State of Mind! This is by far Kristy Woodson Harvey’s best book to date. I loved the southern charm and storyline. I love how she wove echoes between character stories. Watch for those! I don’t want to give any spoilers.

Kristy adds authenticity to her story with characters that make questionable decisions. The first obvious one is the mother who leaves her newborn baby in a dumpster. Wrong, yes, but when readers understand the position she was in, we become more compassionate.

Readers will want to fall in love with the protagonists Daisy and Mason, but even they face decisions that don’t have black and white answers. Daisy isn’t a perfect person, even though she’s caring and protective of the baby. She looks through the lens of her scars from her mother leaving her when she was a child. Readers will want to love her, but they may not like how she processes this baby situation. And yet, it’s a real, understandable reaction.

Although Aunt Tilley’s mental state seems a bit unrealistic, she’s so much fun! I can’t imagine the book without her and her background being a part of it. She adds depth to Daisy and Mason’s situation.

People aren’t all good or all bad. Some of our wrong choices and rationalizations are made with good intent. Some are made out of desperation. Knowing the circumstances for the choice doesn’t make a poor decision acceptable, but it leads to understanding and compassion.

Concerning Daisy and Mason’s romance, they fall in love quickly. If you’re more of a slow burn fan, this isn’t for you. Although he book has romance, it’s really about family dynamics and the choices we make.

At first I wasn’t sure I would be into a book about a baby left in a dumpster, but it’s so much more than that. Read it! You’ll see. 5 stars!

Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for the ARC for my review. The opinions are my own. SUMMER STATE OF MIND by Kristy Woodson Harvey comes out May 5, but you can preorder now. One way is through this link at Bookshop.org.

About the Author

Author Kristy Woodson Harvey — Kristy Woodson Harvey

Kristy Woodson Harvey is a New York Times Bestselling author. Beyond her novels, her writing has appeared in many publications including Southern Living, Parade, Traditional Home, and USA Today. She is also a co-founder and co-anchor on the Friends and Fiction weekly podcast with Mary Kay Andrews, Patti Callahan Henry, and Kristin Harmel.

Every Wednesday at 7 PM ET these ladies talk about their books and interview other authors with recent releases. It’s a great way to discover new titles and authors! Join in the fun by joining the Friends and Fiction Facebook group or go to their YouTube channel where you can watch live and catch up on older episodes.

If You Like…

If you like the description of SUMMER STATE OF MIND by Kristy Woodson Harvey, check out my past reviews on some of her other books: Beach House Rules, A Happier Life, The Peachtree Bluff series, and Under the Southern Sky. You may also like these: The Summer of You and Me by Denise Hunter, and The Sea Glass Cottage and The Cafe at Beach End, both by RaeAnn Thayne.

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January 20, 2026January 15, 2026

The Unwritten Rules of Magic

Robin’s Reviews – 2026

If you’ve ever wished for more control over your circumstances and the lives of those around you (haven’t we all?), then you may enjoy reading THE UNWRITTEN RULES OF MAGIC by Harper Ross.

Book Summary

Emerson Clarke’s father, a famous author, has recently died. She’s a successful ghostwriter, but she hasn’t taken the jump into publishing under her own name. As she goes through her father’s things, Emerson finds and takes home his vintage typewriter which he had forbidden anyone to use.

With her father’s recent death, her mother’s alcoholism, her teen daughter shutting her out, and a looming deadline for work, Emerson is overwhelmed. She wishes she could control her circumstances and the choices of those around her to create her perfect life. She types a wish on her father’s typewriter. When the wish comes true, she types another, just to make sure it wasn’t a coincidence. Wishing is dangerous since she can’t control how the wishes play out, and there’s a price to be paid each time she asks for something.

Emerson feels guilty manipulating others and taking away their rights to make their own choices. Her guilt raises a question in her mind—how much was her father manipulating her life?

Could the wishes coming true simply be coincidences? A self-fulfilling prophesy from her desire for these things to be true?

Emerson must decide what to do with the typewriter. Can she avoid its provocative allure?

Trigger Warnings: death of a parent, dysfunctional family, alcoholism, abortion

My Thoughts

I recommend THE UNWRITTEN RULES OF MAGIC by Harper Ross. If you’re considering reading it, be aware that the title is deceptive. If you’re looking for a book with wizards and spells, this isn’t it. This isn’t fantasy, as one might assume from the title. It’s magical realism, meaning the story takes place in our ordinary world, but an element that doesn’t exist in our world exists in this one. In this case, the element is a magical typewriter that grants wishes. THE UNWRITTEN RULES OF MAGIC is more about family dynamics than magic.

One theme is about letting go of control, the struggle to stop trying to control the uncontrollable. It’s also about how every person, including those you love, have faults. The book reminds us how others need our help and forgiveness, not our judgment.

Several heavy issues enter the lives of the characters. One in particular toward the end is a controversial topic. The decision a character makes, whether you personally believe it is right or wrong, is one she’ll have to live with. She will have to deal with the consequences, just like we must do with our choices in real life.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this novel. The opinions are my own.

THE UNWRITTEN RULES OF MAGIC by Harper Ross comes out January 27, 2026. Pre-ordering is VERY helpful to authors. I suggest ordering through Bookshop.org since they help support small, independent bookstores across the country. Order here.

About the Author

Harper Ross left her legal practice to raise her children. That’s when she discovered her creative side. She writes books with a dash of everyday magic while exploring friendship, family, and forgiveness.

Her website says when she’s not writing, she’s probably singing badly in her car, dancing in her kitchen, or walking her adorable dog. THE UNWRITTEN RULES OF MAGIC is her debut novel.

If You Like…

If you think THE UNWRITTEN RULES OF MAGIC by Harper Ross sounds interesting, check out my past recommendations: The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman, The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer, Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young, and Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber.

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January 14, 2026January 14, 2026

Keeper of Lost Children by Sadeqa Johnson

Robin’s Rave Reviews 2026

KEEPER OF LOST CHILDREN by Sadeqa Johnson will give you all the feels. This WWII historical fiction covers a mix of topics from family drama, prejudice/desegregation, adoption, infertility, army wife life, and the haves/have nots.</span> Sadeqa expertly immerses you into the world of several characters from the late 1940s in Occupied Germany to the mid-1960s in America. The three storylines are easy to follow without confusion as you weave in and out of them.

Book Summary

Ethel Gathers lives in Occupied Germany on an American Army base in the 1950s. She struggles with the emotional pain of infertility and loneliness as a military wife in a foreign country. When she gets lost walking around the city, she stumbles upon a local orphanage. The children here are babies of German women and Black American GI’s. German society shunned these single mothers due to their bi-racial children, and the women cannot financially care for them. Ethel’s purpose in life becomes finding these children loving homes in America, and her “Brown Babies Program” is born.

Ozzie Phillips, born and raised in Philadelphia, volunteers for the Army in 1948. He wants to show what the Black man is capable of in the newly desegregated Army. While serving in Germany, he forms a relationship with Jelka, a local woman, and they have a child together. He loves this child more than anything, but the military upends their arrangement with orders he must follow.

In the mid-1960s, Sophia Clark’s high test score gains her an opportunity to be part of desegregating a prestigious all-white boarding school in Maryland. It’s an opportunity for a better education to overcome a life of poverty, as well as escaping tough life on the farm and her cold, demanding parents. At the new school, she struggles with both class and race issues. Sophia makes friends with other students who, like her, are breaking down walls. One of these friendships leads her to uncovering truths about herself and her family.

My Thoughts

Reader, you will love these characters. You will sympathize with Ethel’s desperate desire to be a mother and attempts at adjusting to life on the Army base so far from home. You will love Ethel’s heart in finding Black American families who want these children and her persistence in breaking through the red tape to get them from Germany to America. Author notes that will be in the published version weren’t included in my Advance Readers Copy (ARC). I expect Sadeqa will talk about her research on these children and the woman who arranged the adoptions. Some quick research points to Ethel’s character being based on a real-life woman, Mabel Grammer. She was responsible for successfully relocating over 500 children in her “Brown Baby Program.”

We meet Ozzie in Philadelphia before he joins the military. You will connect with his personality and goals. You will feel for the sacrifice he makes to join the Army. Once there, hIs story sheds light on what it was like for a Black man to have his ability overlooked by the military simply because of his skin color. You’ll applaud his drive to improve his position and prove himself. You’ll appreciate his tender side in his relationship with Jelka, a German woman, and the child they have together. The devotion this man has for his child is adorable which makes your heart break for his circumstances. You will cheer on Ozzie and Jelka to overcome the problems associated with the demands of the Army and societal bigotry.

Jumping forward in time, your heart will go out to Sophia, a sweet, smart girl living in poverty with unloving parents. As much as you’ll want to see her get out by going to this prestigious school, you’ll feel her stress at leaving her brothers behind in those conditions. You will feel concern knowing the probable issues she will face being one of the first Black students at an all-white school with children from wealthy families. You will tense as she encounters prejudice, and you’ll recognize typical teenage scenarios with friendship and first love.

Although you will predict how the three stories will eventually tie in, you will be invested in seeing it all play out.

5 Star Recommendation

I have seen excellent reviews of other Sadeqa Johnson novels (THE HOUSE OF EVE and YELLOW WIFE), but this is my first book by her. When I saw the ARC was available, I jumped at the chance to read it. I’m so glad I did. I highly recommend KEEPER OF LOST CHILDREN by Sadeqa Johnson. It is well written, the characters are endearing, and the story was an excellent lesson of WWII history I didn’t know about.

The book comes out February 10, 2026. You can preorder it now . Here’s a link to purchase at Bookshop.org. My thanks to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC of KEEPER OF LOST CHILDREN by Sadeqa Johnson. All of my thoughts on this novel are my own opinions.

About the Author

From Sadeqa Johnson’s website: Sadeqa is the author of six novels. The House of Eve was an instant New York Times Best Seller, Reese’s Book Club selection, Target Book Club pick, nominated for a NAACP Image Award and a 2023 Goodreads Choice award finalist.

Yellow Wife, was named by Oprah Magazine as “27 of 2021 Most Anticipated Winter Historical Fiction books.” Yellow Wife was also a 2021 Goodreads Choice Award finalist for historical fiction, a 2022 Hurston/Wright Foundation Legacy finalist, a BCALA Literary Honoree, the Library of Virginia’s Literary People’s Choice Award winner, and a Barnes & Noble book club pick in paperback.

The book tour dates and locations for KEEPER OF LOST CHILDREN is on her website here. I plan on meeting her in February when she comes to the South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch of the Cuyahoga County Library (Cleveland area) on her book tour. Does your book club plans on reading her newest book? Keep an eye on her website for book club extras.

If You Like…

If KEEPER OF LOST CHILDREN sounds interesting to you, take a look at these past reviews I’ve done. Click on the links. Maybe one of these books will also piqué your interest: THE BOOK OF LOST NAMES or THE PARIS DAUGHTER by Kristin Harmel, THE SECRET BOOK OF FLORA LEA by Patti Callahan Henry, and THE CLOCKMAKER’S WIFE by Daisy Wood.

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August 5, 2025August 5, 2025

Out of the Crash by Susan Poole

Robin’s Rave Reviews 2025

OUT OF THE CRASH by Susan Poole is out into the world! Congratulations to my friend and fellow writer! I’m so excited for Susan as she sends her debut book baby out into the hands of readers. And I’m so excited for readers to get ahold of this one!

Book Summary

OUT OF THE CRASH is women’s fiction, family drama, and (light) legal drama, about a hit-and-run of a bicyclist by a teenage driver, resulting in a fatality.

At eighteen-years-old, high school senior Kyle Beasley has his whole life ahead of him, including a full college scholarship to play baseball. While driving, everything changes in a flash when he hits and kills bicyclist Amy Shawver. He makes it worse by panicking and driving off. He is arrested for vehicular homicide, for which he could serve prison time.

As the town passes judgement on the situation, both families are suffering. The victim’s husband struggles with the loss of his wife while his son struggles with the loss of his mother. When the son learns a secret about his mother, it creates conflict between him and his dad.

The driver’s family struggles with their grief and guilt over the tragic death, as well as the impact it has on their son, changing the course of his life through a reckless mistake. This family is already on shaky ground after the mother’s health scare a few years ago.

Also, the teen siblings in each family have to navigate school and friends with this tragedy in the forefront of everyone’s mind while they try to make sense of it all.

Author Susan Poole expertly dives into the lives of both the teen driver’s and the victim’s families showing how trauma has the ability to tear families apart or bring them closer together, as well as lead people to reevaluate their lives and what’s truly important. The author explores the husband/wife dynamic, the parent/child bond, and the after-math effects of trauma on children.

My Thoughts

I commiserated with both sides. For me, that’s what is so special about this novel. It’s easy (and appropriate) to sympathize with the family who lost a loved one, but so often the tragedy it causes in the family on the other side is ignored. It’s eye-opening and heart-breaking to examine both sides.

Can you imagine the pain of losing your wife or mother in a bicycling accident? You’d be devastated. You’d want justice.

Can you fathom what the teenager and his family are going through—the guilt over the death and the fear of what it means for the future? You’d be devastated. As a parent, you’d grieve for the family that lost their loved one, but you’d also want to protect your child. Should a split-second accident ruin the rest of his life, putting him away in prison for years, and labeling him a felon for the rest of his life? And how can he live with knowing he caused someone’s death?

Can you picture living in this town. How would you react after hearing about the accident, knowing it was a teen driver and a hit-and-run? What conclusions might you jump to? Would your judgment be black and white without knowing the whole story?

I loved how I became invested in both families and their struggles over the months following the accident. The story reminds us that there’s two sides to every story. Amy’s death is a tragedy for her family, but we can also feel heart-breaking pain for Kyle and his family.

This novel speaks to everyone since we’ve all had times when our world spins out of control, and we have to weather the storm to get to the calm. Sometimes life presents predicaments with no clearly right answer, and we can only consider, “What if this happened to me? To our family?”

Although the subject is difficult, OUT OF THE CRASH by Susan Poole is gripping. I flew through it in two sittings. The author masterfully handles the topic beautifully, without the story becoming too heavy, and leaves us with hope for those impossible life situations.

About the Author

The author of Out of the Crash by Susan Poole is holding her book at her book launch party. — Author Susan Poole at her book launch party

Susan Poole lives in Avon Lake, Ohio, with her husband and dogs.

After graduating from Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio, and the University of Buffalo School of Law, Susan practiced real estate law before becoming a stay-at-home mom. Now that her children are grown, Susan runs a consulting business and writes fiction.

Author of Out of the Crash by Susan Poole is signing a book at her book launch party, — Author Susan Poole signing a book at her book launch party

The Women’s Fiction Writers Association awarded Susan the Rising Star Award for her debut novel, OUT OF THE CRASH. Through her writing, Susan wants to explore life’s ups and downs and makes sense of the human experience.

Consider purchasing OUT OF THE CRASH by Susan Poole through this link on Bookshop.org to help support independent mom and pop bookstores. (Personally, I like to support MacIntosh Books on Sanibel Island with their recovery after Hurricane Ian. I don’t receive any commission from this. I simply want to help independent bookstores.) Or purchase from YOUR favorite book seller.

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Drop me a comment below! What are you reading that you’d recommend? Who are your favorite authors? Ask me a question about books and/or writing. I’d love to hear from you!

April 8, 2025

Fun for the Whole Family

Robin’s Reviews 2025

FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY by Jennifer E. Smith is a captivating read exploring the childhood and adult lives of four siblings. I was excited to read it since I enjoyed her earlier novel, The Unsinkable Greta James.

Growing up in a dysfunctional family required these four siblings to stay close and support each other as children. As adults, they followed different paths to seek happiness and success, and they’ve lost their connection with each other. They haven’t talked in several years since the big falling out. The sibling who initiates a reunion weekend hopes they will reconnect, but she has secrets that could cause further harm.

The Siblings

Jude, an Academy Award nominated actress, extends a weekend invitation to her siblings to join her in North Dakota. She needs to share three secrets weighing on her.

Gemma, the oldest child who mothered her neglected siblings, now lives in Chicago with her husband and works an average job. With a mix of hope and anxiety, she awaits her pregnancy test results, having gone through IVF and several miscarriages.

Connor, a best-selling author, wrote a fictionalized story about his childhood causing friction in the family. He’s also been through a divorce, and he doesn’t see his two children as often as he’d like. He brings them along on the trip.

Roddy, Jude’s twin, is a star soccer player struggling with physical issues that come with aging, including a knee injury. He hopes to extend his career with a new team, but the contract causes conflict with his fiancé Winston.

Summary

Photo of author Jennifer E. Smith — Jennifer E. Smith, author

All of the siblings are conflicted about attending the weekend and confronting their siblings, yet they realize the importance of reconciling. Soon after arriving at the remote cabin in North Dakota, a snowstorm traps them together. Roads are closed, and electricity and phone services are down. Forced to face old issues is hard enough, but when additional secrets are revealed, they struggle to process the emotional pain.

My Take

FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY has plenty of lighter moments and additional characters to balance the tough emotions, keeping the story from being too heavy. It kept my attention by alternating between childhood summer road trips with their flaky mother, attempting to see all 50 states, and the adult North Dakota snowed-in weekend. The complex bond of these four kids and well-developed characterization makes each personality come alive. The story combines family fun, drama, secrets, dreams, and forgiveness with second chances. After growing apart, these adults go through the struggles and pain to find their way back to the bond of family.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine and NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. The opinions are my own.

Today, April 8, 2025, is FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY’s publication date, so it’s available for purchase now! Does this sounds like a book you’d like? Although it can be purchased many places, I suggest ordering through Bookshop.org. They help support small, independent bookstores across the county: order hardback or ebook .

If You Like…

If you like FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY, check out my past blog review of THE UNSINKABLE GRETA JAMES, also by Jennifer E. Smith.

Drop me a comment below! What are you reading that you’d recommend? Who are your favorite authors? Ask me a question about books and/or writing. I’d love to hear from you!

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January 6, 2025January 3, 2025

The Sea Glass Cottage by RaeAnne Thayne

Robin’s Reviews 2025

THE SEA GLASS COTTAGE by RaeAnne Thayne focuses on three generations of Harper women. This small-town family story is intertwined with a second-chance romance and includes family drama, secrets, misunderstandings, guilt, and forgiveness. RaeAnne smoothly leads us along a family’s path through life with all its messiness, and she lands on a satisfying ending.

Summary

Olivia Harper hasn’t returned home in a long time. Avoidance has helped her push away the pain of losing her father in a fire and her sister from an overdose. However, when her mother falls off a ladder at her greenhouse business and breaks her hip, she needs Olivia’s help. Olivia returns to her childhood home while her mom recuperates. She steps in to help around the house and run the greenhouse at the busiest time of year while balancing her own remote jobs. Olivia is also challenged to build a relationship with her moody teenage niece, Caitlin, who lives with them. Three generations of Harper women in the same house is a struggle, to say the least. While home, Olivia also reconnects with her friend Melody and Melody’s brother/Olivia’s past crush, Cooper.

My Thoughts

RaeAnne Thayne is gifted at writing characters with strained, complicated relationships while still creating a loving, feel-good story. The novel seamlessly flows through each of the Harper girl’s perspectives. The multiple POV helps readers understand their relationships through their innermost thoughts and feelings. Each one hides a secret and needs healing from the past.

You will cheer on the Harpers to successfully overcome old wounds and repair their personal connections. THE SEA GLASS COTTAGE is a warm hug, perfect for any time of year.

(*Note Possible Triggers: This novel deals with the aftermath of the addiction and overdose of a character.)

Although this is my first book review of 2025, I read THE SEA GLASS COTTAGE in late 2024. The story and characters have stayed with me. After reading it, I discovered this is the second book in a series. I didn’t miss anything by hopping in on this one. Each book in the series is a standalone story, the town being the only connection. The Cape Sanctuary series starts with THE CLIFF HOUSE, if you’d rather start there. RaeAnne Thayne’s most recent novel is THE DECEMBER MARKET, a Christmas novel.

Consider buying THE SEA GLASS COTTAGE through this link to Bookshop.org. You will be supporting small, indy bookstores with your purchase.

If You Like…

If you like THE SEA GLASS COTTAGE, check out these past recommendations: The Cafe at Beach End by RaeAnne Thayne and Seabreeze Inn by Jan Moran.

Drop me a comment below! What are you reading that you’d recommend? Who are your favorite authors? Ask me a question about books and/or writing. I’d love to hear from you!

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December 7, 2023October 10, 2023

The Liz Taylor Ring by Brenda Janowitz

Robin’s Reviews

The Liz Taylor Ring by Brenda Janowitz was an enjoyable read. Don’t be confused going in though. It is more about a fictional couple than Liz Taylor.

Photo showing the size of the actual Liz Taylor diamond ring — The actual Liz Taylor ring

This dual timeline story covers the romance of Ritchie and Lizzie in the 1970s, and years later, the family drama of their adult children after the parents have passed. Then add the discovery of a piece of jewelry, an inheritance they all want, to the sibling tension. It’s an issue many families have experienced.

Lizzie and Ritchie’s relationship is compared to that of Lizzie’s movie idols, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor — both passionate and tumultuous. After marriage and two children, Lizzie and Ritchie separate due to his gambling addiction. When he wins a gigantic eleven-carat diamond ring, he uses it to woo Lizzie back. (The ring is similar to the one Burton gave Taylor to win her back after their separation. See the photo above.) Soon after, Lizzie and Ritchie have another child, twelve years younger than her siblings.

At some point in Lizzie and Ritchie’s marriage, the ring is lost. Each child has a different memory of what happened to it — stolen, lost or gambled away. After their parents’ deaths, their children rediscover it in a lock box. The children all believe they deserve it, and each has a different reason for wanting it. Can they survive each other as they decide what to do with it? Will this inheritance tear the family further apart? Is it a treasure or a curse?

Brenda Janowitz, the author, has done extensive research on Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. She adds an interesting section at the end of the book explaining the Easter eggs she’s added throughout the novel that are nods to Burton and Taylor. She also includes scenes from Taylor and Burton movies for readers to Google. If you are a fan of these Hollywood idols and/or love books with family drama and the process of reconciliation, The Liz Taylor Ring is one you’ll want to put on your TBR list.

If this kind of fiction is your thing, Brenda Janowitz has more for you! She also wrote The Audrey Hepburn Estate and The Grace Kelly Dress, along with several other novels. Aren’t all of her book covers gorgeous?

And if you like those books, make sure to check out my five-star review of The Wedding Veil by Kristy Woodson Harvey about the Vanderbilts.

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September 26, 2022September 16, 2022

The White Hare by Jane Johnson

If you’re looking for a novel full of folklore and dark atmosphere, The White Hare by Jane Johnson might fill the order. The author of Sea Gate, The Court of Lions, and The Sultan’s Wife brings us a new novel set in 1954 but filled with that disquieting mood that only comes from a land filled with dark, archaic memories.

The remote, gothic mansion falling into disrepair, the village that seems lost to time and advancements, the superstitions that are very much alive, and a land protected by an ancient, unsettling, and watchful presence all make The White Hare feel like it takes place hundreds of years earlier than its actual 1954 Cornwall setting. The author’s British spelling/vocabulary also adds to the feel of bygone days, at least for this American reader.

This isn’t a scary book, but Johnson maintains a sense of unease throughout the novel. Johnson refers to the Last Stand of the Cornish in the 10^th century when King Athelstan (usually regarded as the first king of England) massacred the rebellious Cornish people, their blood running red through the land to the sea. The land itself seems to hold these memories. The villagers believe the spirit of the land exists in a mystical white hare that protects the valley and those who live in it.

Here, Magda has purchased a mansion, neglected since the end of WWII. The house and tiny village are in a remote area surrounded by ancient, dark forests and sheer granite cliffs that drop to the ocean. With the help of her daughter Mila, Magda plans on bringing the house back to its former glory and make it into a Bed and Breakfast. She wants the glamor of hosting fancy parties for celebrities and the rich here. The dreary mansion’s dark secrets and villagers who aren’t welcoming to outsiders will make this a difficult task.

A selfish, overbearing mother, Madga causes family drama. She doesn’t show any love to her daughter or granddaughter. Mila does whatever her mother asks, trying to not irritate her. She came along to escape a scandal and make a better life for her young daughter Janey. When they first arrive in Cornwall, Magda drives the car off the road to avoid hitting a white hare that ran across their path. There seems to be something mystical about this hare, and after that, Janey’s stuffed rabbit seems to be more than a toy. As Mila forms relationships with some of the townsfolk, she hears their superstitious beliefs that a mystical white hare is connected with nature and the protection of the valley.

Beyond the mysteries of the mansion, Johnson adds tension through two characters: the Vicar (priest of the local parish) and a stranger. Some villagers hold contempt toward the Vicar since the church has tried to erase all traces of their ancient pagan culture. The stranger, who seems to be a transient, shows up at the mansion, and despite the mystery surrounding him, Magda hires him to help transform the house.

The White Hare by Jane Johnson is Mila’s coming-of-age story wrapped up in sorting through family drama and uncovering mysteries of the past. It is available for pre-order now and will hit bookstores on October 4, 2022.

If you’re looking for other books that fit a (light) spooky mood for the fall season, check out these other books I’ve reviewed: Spells for Forgetting, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, Gallant, The Lost Apothecary, and The Kindred Spirits Supper Club.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC of The White Hare. The opinions are my honest thoughts.

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@author.robin.shelley

My Thoughts

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5 Star Recommendation

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Robin’s Rave Reviews 2025

Book Summary

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Robin’s Reviews 2025

Summary

If You Like…

Robin’s Reviews 2025

Summary

My Thoughts

If You Like…

Robin’s Reviews

About the Author