This is the Karen White that I know and love! I loved the characters, the mysterious histories of Merilee and Sugar, the connection between two women that suffered tremendous sadness in their lives. Sugar was the "grumpy old lady" that either people loved or hated. She had great instincts regarding people. Merilee would have been better served trusting Sugar's opinion of Heather, that's for sure!
There were a ton of clues that Heather was setting Merilee up - although I wasn't really sure what her exact plan was initially. Heather and Dan's phones were always mixed up, Heather borrowing Merilee's lipstick and not giving it back, Heather buying Merilee's dress, Heather finding Dan's wallet "accidentally" in her purse, her daughter getting "sick" and her bailing on Merilee at the last minute for the weekend at their house in Tybee. The clues go on and on - and Merilee was clueless! Part of the suspense was waiting for the moment that Merilee would finally realize that Heather was Daisy. That moment was a long time coming!
I like how Merilee's and Sugar's stories unfold a little at a time. They each had some incredibly tragic things happen to them. Both of them lost their siblings, their mothers (in different ways than death, but they were still losses), their husbands. Merilee being arrested for murder. Sugar being raped. Once they connected and shared their secrets, they both came to realize how strong they were. Rather than being defeated, they regained their sense of self.
It was incredibly sad that Dan was murdered. I really didn't want that to happen! I was also sad that Merilee's parents abandoned her, that Rufus died because of Curtis, Jimmy was paralyzed because of Curtis, the dog died, Sugar and her mother were raped, etc, etc. Honestly, Curtis was evil. Merilee's father should have protected his own and got rid of him early on. Not sure if he was that naive or what! I was surprised by who killed Curtis in the end. Oh, and I loved the friendship between Sugar and Willa Faye! Love this line, "...when I told her I needed help burying a body, the first thing she said was, "Let me go get my shovel."" That's what you call friendship!!
I don't remember Sugar explaining what happened to her daughter Mary, other than she died when she was one day old. Oh, and how wonderful was Tom, who wanted to raise Sugar's child as his own, even though the baby was a product of rape. Really sad that Tom died too. There was a lot of sadness in this book. :(
Despite that, I continue to be a huge fan of this author!
Wendy's Rating: ****
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