In this book, we're kind of keeping track of two women. Sarah is struggling through her marriage to Henry, sometimes loving him and other times fed up. The other woman is Bertha, a young woman who befriends a scandalous woman who's just shown up in town, Annie. Bertha wants to figure out how to get the man she's sweet on, Thad, to notice her. Unfortunately, Thad is getting ready to leave for college and is trying to find the right moment to tell her.
Bertha is sometimes selfish and other times sweet. I don't know how I feel about the relationship between her and Thad. It was strange, and I honestly would have been fine whether or not they ended up together.
Some of the characters in this story don't make sense. They have these complete 180 degree changes to their personalities that aren't really explained in a believable way. First is Darius, the crook. He magically transforms for no reason. The other one was Bertha's mother. She also changes overnight, and the only reasoning given is that her husband "threw the Bible at her." Meaning he pointed out the verses where wives were to submit, and husbands were to love their wives. I don't doubt the power of the Scriptures, but people don't completely change that quick.
The other thing that bothered me was Annie. The "resolution" of her story didn't involve any sense of justice or anything resembling the pursuit of justice. "We all know what happened to her" doesn't give me a sense of closure.
This first story wasn't for me, and I'm not sure I'll read the other two. The writing was fine, I just didn't feel any connection with the characters. Anyway, I just wasn't fond of this one.
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