All the Forgivenesses

In the face of hardship and little choice, it was inspiring to watch Bertie do what must be done to raise her younger siblings. I loved the setting and the beautiful writing, where I felt immersed in each scene. The characters were striped down to the essence in their day-by-day struggles with survival. The storytelling was rich and provocative. A true tale of allowing light to come in through the cracks.

I was drawn to Bertie from the start. Her struggles to understand herself and why things happened as they did resonated with me in a very personal way.

I read this recently on Kindle and couldn’t wait to read more each time I had to put it down to do some mundane tasks in life, such as eating, taking my granddaughter to therapy, and stuff like that. Bertie stayed in my mind, calling me to finish her story.

Even now that I’ve finished, she still whispers in my mind, making me want to read the book all over again.

Set in Kentucky hill country at the birth of the twentieth century, a farm family scrabbles for sustenance with little help from an undependable father with an attachment to whiskey. Bertie is fifteen when her mother dies, and she is forced to raise her four younger siblings, but she was accustomed to doing the chores during the long years of her mother’s illness. She handles the work but fears she lacks the wisdom and warmth a mother should provide. She struggles to understand her sharp-tongued younger sister, Dacia, and her own responsibility for the early death of Timmy.  

The tale is written… show more.