Love, Alice
Barbara Davis
Expected publication date: December 6, 2016
The truth lies between the lines... A year ago, Dovie Larkin’s life was shattered when her fiancé committed suicide just weeks before their wedding. Now, plagued by guilt, she has become a fixture at the cemetery where William is buried, visiting his grave daily, waiting for answers she knows will never come.I received an ARC of this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.
Then one day, she sees an old woman whose grief mirrors her own. Fascinated, she watches the woman leave a letter on a nearby grave. Dovie ignores her conscience and reads the letter—a mother’s plea for forgiveness to her dead daughter—and immediately needs to know the rest of the story.
As she delves deeper, a collection of letters from the cemetery’s lost and found begins to unravel a decades-old mystery involving one of Charleston’s wealthiest families. But even as Dovie seeks to answer questions about another woman’s past—questions filled with deception, betrayal, and heartbreaking loss—she starts to discover the keys to love, forgiveness, and finally embracing the future… - from Goodreads
Love, Alice is a story about grief, hope, finding answers, and family. Dovie Larkin visits her fiancé's grave everyday, wondering why he committed suicide just two weeks before their wedding. Nearby, a statue marks the gravesite of Alice Tandy, who was a nanny for the wealthy Tate family decades earlier. One day, an old woman, Dora, leaves a letter at Alice's statue, and Dovie, in hopes of maybe helping someone else find the answers that elude her, reads the letter and strikes up a friendship with the woman. The book explores the ties between Dovie, the Tandy family, and the Tate family.
The story moved a bit slowly at times and the plot was predictable. I also didn't care for the character of Austin Tate, no matter how integral he is. I disliked the way he so obviously led Dovie on, then turned around and said he couldn't be with her. However, the good far outweighed the bad, and I really enjoyed this lovely but sometimes heartbreaking story.
I loved the way we got to know Alice through the letters she wrote to her baby. Alice was a young and pregnant English girl, sent to an institution by her mother, Dora, to have the baby. Alice, however, couldn't accept her child being taken away, and she followed the trail all the way to Charleston. I could feel the love Alice had for her child, and her conflicting emotions of hope and despair.
Dovie and Dora were also fantastic characters. The friendship that bloomed between them was beautiful and I loved the way they helped each other. Dovie was intelligent and thoughtful, although at times she seemed very scattered. Dora spent years not knowing what happened to Alice. I felt so bad for her; she was trying to do what was best for her daughter, but Alice didn't understand and couldn't forgive her. These characters aren't perfect, but they are relatable.
Davis' writing is flowing and easy to read, and I loved the way she brought the setting of Charleston, South Carolina to life.
4 stars
I'm not usually one for this sort of book but it sounds so good, every once in a while a good emotionally intense read is needed.
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