Wildwood
I enjoyed the unfamiliar world that Molly and Bridget walked into. Molly assumed that she had walked into prosperity while Bridget knew that she had tottered into agony when the two of them arrived in Alberta, their new home for the next 365 days. The isolated farmhouse cast off a terrifying chill as they took in their surroundings. It would be tough to live without some of life’s modern conveniences but in the end, the title to this valuable piece of property was worth a fortune and Bridget’s doctors cost about that much.
Molly was a city girl and moving into the country with her four-year-old daughter was a chance that she was willing to take. Molly needed money for Bridget’s doctors. Molly believed that taking this year off to live in this remote countryside was the best option for the both of them. Molly knew nothing about country living nor did she know about her great aunt and uncle who left her this property. Molly knew she needed the money and she knew they only needed to stay one year, that really wasn’t a long time, was it?
The townfolk were welcoming and they reach out to the new family. As Molly navigates her new life, she finds one of her great aunt’s diaries in the house. I liked these journal entries just as much as Molly did. I felt that they helped her not feel so isolated in the struggles that she has having living on the estate. The similarities of these two women were striking although the time periods were many years apart.
Bridget is a shy child when they set foot onto the estate but as time moves on, she changes. There were times I wondered if Molly notices what was happening with her daughter as they get caught up in everyday life. It’s hard for these two as they go from a clean, tidy lifestyle to a lifestyle where dust and dirt are a part of life.
Molly is constantly counting down the days till she can go back to Arizona and get Bridget back into treatment. Each day is a new set of challenging yet as I read, I saw something growing between Molly and her daughter. The struggles and the victories aren’t forgotten but they become their own journal and now there are other individuals joining in.
This was a fantastic novel with an entertaining, engaging story that I truly enjoyed. It was one of those novels where I became vested in the lives of the characters and I truly cared how things played out.
I received a copy of this novel from NetGalley and Dundurn in exchange for an honest review.
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