This delightful book alternates between the present day (2018) and 1940. In 1940, Anna Dale, a young, naive artist from New Jersey, wins a contest to paint a large mural to represent Edenton, North Carolina. In 2018, Morgan Christopher, a young art student who is sitting in prison serving a 3-year sentence for a DUI that seriously injured someone else, is paroled so she can work on restoring that same mural. Morgan knows nothing about Anna, and, more importantly, doesn’t understand why she was chosen for this seemingly Sisyphean project.
This book touches on Southern racism, and for fair warning, there is a sexual assault, but mostly this book focuses on redemption. Because the author chose to alternate chapters for most of the book — and also sprinkles in some diary entries — we get to more intimately know both Anna and Morgan, which I liked because I felt very invested in both of their stories.
I did figure out most of the big reveals fairly early on, although I liked the characters and the story enough that this did not take away from the rest of the book, since I still wanted to read the story the author wrote in her words.
This was my first experience reading Diane Chamberlain, and I’m looking forward to reading more by her. I highly recommend this one.
Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for my honest review. It has not influenced my opinion.