Book Review: 'Blackberry Winter'

Last night I finished a book that I enjoyed so much I thought I needed to blog about it and let others know. The book is called 'Blackberry Winter' by Sarah Jio. I saw the book for the first time at Sam's Club. I thought it sounded good so I came home to see if it was available through our library system (7 area libraries that we can request books from). It was available, but had several reserves on it already. I added my name to the list and got the book a few weeks later. This is one of the best books I have ever read! Because I spend most of my free time cross stitching, the only time I usually read is the 10-15 minutes I'm waiting for the kids after school. I picked this one up several evenings to read a bit more because it was so good. It's the kind of book that if I had time, I would have read it through in one sitting. The text on the back of the book says: Seattle, 1933. Vera Ray kisses her three-year old son, Daniel, good night and reluctantly leaves for work. She hates the night shift, but it's the only way she can earn enough to keep destitution at bay. In the morning-even though it's the second of May-a heavy snow is falling. Vera rushes to wake Daniel, but his bed is empty. His teddy bear lies outside in the snow. Seattle, present day. On the second of May, Seattle Herald reporter Claire Aldridge awakens to another late-season snowstorm. Assigned to cover this "blackberry winter" and it's predecessor decades earlier, Claire learns of Daniel's unsolved abduction and vows to unearth the truth-only to discover that she and Vera are linked in unexpected ways. The chapters go back and forth between Vera and Claire's lives. It's not confusing though. You learn a lot about both of the women's lives and what led to events that take place. I felt for the characters, especially Vera. Just a really, really good book. Maybe for some people it would be predictable, and a lot of books are for me, but this one wasn't. It left me guessing. And very few books make me cry but I did towards the end of this one. It tugs at your heart. It did to me anyway. I would recommend this book to anyone. :)