On Folly Beach by Karen White

First of all..... LOVED IT! I liked the two story lines running at the same time. This book was a mysterious historical romance. At first I thought that Peter had a wife (and family?) and that is why he "traveled" so much from Folly Beach. THEN, I thought he was a draft dodger, because he could have been imprisoned for that, if found. I loved how Lulu played "Nancy Drew", learning the truth about everyone. I thought it was completely believable how torn she would be about telling Maggie the truth about Cat (and Jim) and also about Peter and who he really was. She loved Maggie, and not only did she want Maggie to stay with her, but I believed she sincerely loved Maggie enough to try to "save her" from the truth about Peter. I did not particularly like Cat, but in the end, I think she loved Maggie and wanted her to be spared the truth, which would have devastated her.

Do I think that Peter loved Maggie? Yes. No doubts about that. BUT, he would have betrayed the United States by delivering the sensitive paperwork to the Germans. Lulu did technically kill him, but she is redeemed by trying to save him. I disagree with her about not telling Maggie the truth about Peter. Lulu told Maggie that Peter left because he killed Cat. Hmmmm. Wouldn't the truth have been better at that point - for everyone? Maggie would have been hurt, but she wouldn't have WASTED all of those years WAITING for someone who was never going to return. I felt really bad for Robert! First he is betrayed by Cat - and then he never fully has the love of Maggie because she is waiting for Peter to return, who is dead. What a waste of a wonderful woman who had a lot to give. 

Using books to write messages to each other was a wonderful way to develop the plot and keep us guessing as to what really happened. All along I thought it was Peter and Maggie writing to each other, so I wasn't really deterred by Emmy commenting that the handwriting was different from Peter's inscriptions to Lulu and Maggie in the books he had given them. I figured there must be a plausible explanation for that - and there was ! ;)

Speaking of Emmy - and Heath - and Abigail - loved them all! This was a "journey book". Lulu, Emmy, Heath, and Jolene all had to learn how to deal with the past, accept it, and MOVE ON. I loved how they learned to do this while discovering the truth about their beloved Maggie and Lulu - and their mistakes.

I recently read another book about U-boats being off the East Coast during WWII. I think it is fascinating that we (as students) never learned this! By both accounts (authors), the US would have probably lost the war with Germany if Hitler would have listened to his Commanders in the Atlantic and put more U-boats in the Atlantic - and attacked us from that coast. Scary.

And finally, the bottle trees. Very symbolic and a key theme throughout the book. Warding away "evil spirits" (ie THE PAST) - and sending messages to loved ones - for good, bad, or otherwise.

Wendy's Rating: *****