[yasr_overall_rating]
Rae McDonald was fifteen when a car accident took her sister’s life and Lisa Smyth survived the fateful crash, but never told the truth about what happened. As both women confront a past refusing to be forgotten, long-buried artifacts are discovered by the Shire Architectural Salvage Company that point to a shared history between families.
This was an interesting story that centered around Rae McDonald, her family, and the McDonald clan, going back to 1751 and the first McDonalds to set foot in Alexandria. The Smyths and the Shires are all intertwined going back down the centuries. It is very interesting read but also very complicated and meandering in parts. The book is centered around a group of women who have mistreated a McDonald they have called a witch. In retaliation, she curses them and their descendants. They go on to make three bottles to ward off her spell.
As I said earlier, there are moments where the story drifts all over the place and while I liked some of the characters that author Taylor brings to life, I could not warm to the central character at all. It was interesting to watch these women and how they reacted to their situations that life brought them, and you would nearly start to believe in the curse. You have the standard bakery where women work and congregate so the atmosphere is open to the chatty gossip that naturally follows.
Throw in a small salvage firm run by the ladies and you uncover all sorts of secrets. The men who crossed the pages were, personally, unreal, and and I could not empathize with them at all. The premise of the story was good but it just didn’t fulfill the promise by book’s end and I have no doubt that Taylor’s fans will be very pleased with her effort and style.
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