Review & Giveaway: A Sound Among the Trees by Susan Meissner
Reviewed by Colleen Turner
When Marielle decided to marry Carson Bishop she knew there would be some challenges. She would be moving across country, leaving her family and friends behind in Arizona to become an instant mother to Carson’s two children in Fredericksburg, Virginia. As if this wasn’t enough, they would be living at Holly Oak, the childhood home of Carson’s first wife, Sarah, who died four years earlier. The home that Sarah’s grandmother, Adelaide, still lives in. Carson convinces Marielle that living at Holly Oak will be good for all of them: the kids wouldn’t have to face another huge change, Adelaide wouldn’t be left alone at such an old age and Marielle would have some company while trying to get acclimated to her new environment.
But as Marielle begins to spend more time at Holly Oak, trying to decide if she can survive in her new roles as wife and mother, she learns that something is different about this house. Some believe a curse lies over the women of Holly Oak. Others think it is haunted by Susannah Page, Adelaide’s great-grandmother who some suspect was a Union spy during the Civil War. Adelaide believes the house is seeking retribution for all the death and destruction that has happened there over the years, and that it has been her job to try and keep the house at peace. Marielle isn’t sure what to believe but she knows one thing for sure: if she is going to make a life there and forge a family within its walls, she is going to have to find the answers somehow.
When Adelaide lets it be known that she gave letters that Susannah wrote to her Northern cousin during the Civil War to her daughter, Caroline, Marielle realizes the key to what haunts her home might be hidden within those letters. The problem is Caroline abandoned her own daughter, Sarah, at Holly Oak as an infant and has been drifting in places unknown for years in a haze of drugs. When the mysterious Caroline eventually shows up at the house ready to settle her score with her family and their familial home, she gives Marielle the chance to read through Susannah’s letters and see for herself that what appears to be the history of Holly Oak is not what it seems at all.
A Sound Among the Trees is the second book by Susan Meissner I have had the pleasure of reading. Once again, I was blown away by her ability to seamlessly meld the past and present in a way that allows each timeline to stand alone as a compelling story line while also allowing them to twist together to bring the central story full circle.
Each woman at Holly Oak is brilliantly flawed and it is the way they influence each other that eventually allows them all to heal and grow. It is impossible to encompass all the details of this story into one small review, but suffice it to say it is a story of love, loss, and making amends for wrongs done, real or imagined. I recommend A Sound Among the Trees to anyone who loves a little history in their contemporary fiction or anyone who just want to sit back and enjoy a good read.
Rating: 5/5
Colleen lives in Tampa, Florida with her husband, son, their dog Oliver and their fish Finn. When not working or taking care of her family she has her nose stuck in a book (and, let’s face it, often when she is working or taking care of her family as well). Nothing excites her more than discovering a new author to obsess over or a hidden jewel of a book to worship. Her reviews can also be found at www.readerunboxed.com.
Giveaway:
I have a copy of A Sound Among the Trees to give away!
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Review and giveaway copies were provided free of any obligation by WaterBrook Press. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.
Category: Genre Fiction, Historical, Literary, Literature & Fiction
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I definitely have to go to Susan’s web site and see her other books. I love History in every genre. I just love anything that brings the past into my reading. So this book based on your review is on my TRL. I too have a suitcase filled with letters from my Father-in-law to my mother-in-law while he served in WWll.
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Sounds like a great book! Thanks for the chance!
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I would like this.
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Very interested after reading your review and appreciate the giveaway opportunity.
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Thanks for the giveaway. Would enjoy reading it.
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Oh wow! This book sounds like one I would really like.
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Haven’t read anything by this author like many others here. But this sounds really interesting
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Please include me in your giveaway. This books sounds great.
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I haven’t read any books by this author but this books sounds intriguing from this great review.
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This sounds like a fascinating book. I love Civil War era stories.
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A Sound Among Trees sounds like it will be really good I would love to read it.
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I’ve read two other Meissner novels, Shape of Mercy and Lady in Waiting, and I agree that she does a fabulous job weaving history into her stories. In an interview I ran across, she talked about how she focused on bringing this latest setting to life — as if it were a living, breathing character. Looking forward to it!
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I haven’t read Shape of Mercy yet but I have added it to my wishlist. Thanks for the recommendation Kit!
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I saw this book on Vine but hesitated to choose it. I didn’t really have a feel for whether or not I would like it. I love to read letters. LOL
My father and mother left me a suitcase of them and I love that. So the letter part would attract me rather that deter me. I do love history, actually the more the better in my reads and if you say this is a 5/5 then it must be good.
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P.S. Thank you, Colleen for helping me to decide.
Wow, Carol, how fascinating that your parents left you letters! I love the idea of getting to know someone you love’s history through their own words. I think it probably teaches you a lot about them that you wouldn’t have found out otherwise. I hope you like it and if you read it I will look forward to your review
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Thank you for this opportunity … it sounds like a fabulous book.
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This has to be good and scary because she moves into the house of her hubby’s dead wife’s (Sara) childhood home…oh the scary part is actually that Sara’s mother still lives there! That’s like getting an extra mother-in-law in a way. Yikes! Now that’s scary *snickers
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Ha! I didn’t think about that, mambunny13, but you are right on
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This book sounds wonderful…would love to win a copy…I’ve put it on my TBR list!
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I’m sure the reviewer was sincere (although I’m also sure “brilliant” was an exaggeration). But this type of book just doesn’t appeal to me. To each his own.
Hi Techeditor!
Susan Meissner has become one of my favorite authors so, to me, her ability to present characters that you can relate to an like despite all their foibles is superb. It definitely isn’t for everyone, though, so sorry this one wouldn’t be for you. Maybe next time
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Would love to read this, it sounds sooo interesting & mysterious.
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I chose this book through Amazon Vine, and it was my first experience with that author. Unfortunately for me, it wasn’t a completely positive one. I liked the idea of the book, and I liked the letters…but I didn’t like how the letters were just a big chunk all at once.
I think I would have liked it more if she’d alternated chapters from Susannah’s time period and then modern day. And maybe done away with the letters altogether.
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Hi Jen!
For me the section dedicated to the letters was my favorite part! I can see how spreading the letters throughout the book would work well as well (maybe present more tension), but I think presenting the mystery and alternate viewpoints of what might be going on at present day Holly Oak first and then showing what actually happened in the past in one lump section showed how wrong everyone’s perceptions had been. If you like her writing style and the history aspect of this book you might enjoy Lady in Waiting by the same author. I read that one last year and loved it too!