Paisley Memories
She wore the labels that she was given when her life started to go in reverse. With no one pushing her forward now, Tess bundled up Paisley and wandered the Deep South. Tess wasn’t exactly sure what she was searching for but a year later with her pockets nearly empty she found a stop in Panacea. An opportunity to rest, a place to pad her pockets and just unwind, it made the invitation to stay something she couldn’t pass up. It was a free place to stay, good home-cooked meals, an opportunity to actually have a bath and she could let her two-year old daughter Paisley stretch out her feet instead of living their lives in a hotel room or her father’s car. Tess knew her way around a camera, a skill she acquired in high school but now Butterball was going to teach her some tricks of her trade so when she was recovering from surgery Tess would be her backup for this was the exchange the two of them agreed to. Living with Butterball, emerging into Butterball’s life and the small community around her was perfect for Tess and Paisley. The stars aligned and everything fell into place for all the characters, it was as if Tess was a long-lost relative of Butterball’s. Being eloped into the community I expected more protective behavior from Tess. Tess was a young teen with a daughter who for the past year had been traveling alone with her on the road, a daughter with special needs and now when she moves into the community, her behavior was not what I expected. At the beginning of the novel, she was emotional about her situation and further into the novel, her emotions seemed to fall away and became softer. Tess seemed more concerned about herself then she did her own child. She lost me; I cared more about the other characters in the novel and their attachment to Paisley and Tess. This was a happy emotional read, a perfect novel.
I received this novel from NetGalley and Southern Yellow Pine in exchange for an honest review.
