Abandoned by Booklikes

So this was a really great book to choose for the Sleepy Hollow square. Taking place in a small town in Massachusetts, Alice Hoffman follows the town founders and descendants of Blackwell, Massachusetts. Mixing in historical incidents as well as some magical realism, the town and the residents feel like a very real place after a few chapters. The flow between chapters is great and sometimes a person you read about as a child appears in a short story later. I do wish that a family tree had been included so you could follow those you read in the stories and trace their antecedents. The biggest tie is that a garden that was started by a woman named Hallie Brady has soil that is red and anything that blooms there comes out red too. Readers get to find out what was buried there and the ties that the Brady, Partridge, Mott, and Starrs all have the oldest house in town as well as to the red garden. 

"The Bear's House" (5 stars)-We found out that a town formerly named Bearsville, was founded in 1750, but changed it's name to Blackwell in 1786. Hoffman introduces you to the town's founders in this one, but focuses on a woman named Hallie Brady. Hoffman allows readers to see at this point, that what you may believe about someone is often messed up with white lies as well as outright falsehoods. We see how Hallie and others managed to survive in Bearsville and how a bear and its cub came to mean so much to Hallie. 

"Eight Nights of Love" (3 stars)-This one was okay. It takes place in 1792 and you get to hear how the supposed Tree of Life in the town of Blackwell was planted by the one and only Johnny Appleseed. A young woman is infatuated with Johnny after the death of her mother and husband. 

"The Year There Was No Summer" (5 stars)-This was one of the most heartbreaking of the stories. Reading about two sisters (Mary and Amy) who will be evoked time and time again in later stories in this book. 

"Owl and Mouse" (3 stars)-This one takes place in 1848 and follows a young woman named Emily who sounds quite familiar. 

"The River at Home" (4 stars)-This story takes place in 1863 and has the town men leaving to join the Union during the Civil War. A young widow along with her husband's father are left grieving. When a young man who also went to war and lost a leg returns, they both end up finding the strength to go on. 

"The Truth About My Mother" (5 stars)-This story starts in 1903 and the narrator is the daughter of the school teacher that the town of Blackwell hires. We get to find out about both of their histories and how they left Brooklyn for Blackwell.

"The Principles of Devotion" (5 stars)-This story starts in 1918 and the young woman who was the narrator of the last story is the subject of this story. The narrator in this one is a young girl called Azurine. Azurine is devoted to her older sister Sara who is dying of the Spanish Flu that has killed off a lot of the town. The younger sister agrees to care for her sister's dog that refuses to leave her side and later her grave. 

"The Fisherman's Wife" (5 stars)-This one has more magical realism than most of the stories and was really well done. A young man comes to hear about folk tails in Blackwell in 1935. Instead he finds that he may be part of one.

"Kiss and Tell" (5 stars)-This story takes place in 1945 and follows Hannah Partridge who we hear about in "The Principles of Devotion." Now she's older and living in her family home alone. Her sister Azurine has gone off to take care of injured and dying men due to the Second War World. When a traveling group of actors comes through Blackwell, something in Hannah finally wakes up. 

"The Monster of Blackwell" (5 stars)-This story taking place in 1956 follows Hannah's niece Kate Partridge. Kate meets a young man who is not quite a man and not quite a bear. This story was more brutal than any that came before it I thought. I loved it though, and felt the ending was bitter sweet. 

"Sin" (4 stars)-This story takes place in 1961 and a young girl desperate for a friend, meets someone new who moves to Blackwell. Too bad jealousy and shame turn things upside down. The ending of this one was very sad I thought, and the young girl who is the narrator in this one, Carla, we get mention of in one of the later stories though.

"Black Rabbit" (3 stars)-This one takes place in 1966 and follows the Mott brothers who we got introduced to in "Sin." I have to say that I thought this one was a bit draggy compared to the other stories. We also get to see how a commune gets set up near Blackwell that doesn't do so well with the whole peace and love thing.

"The Red Garden" (5 stars)-Taking place in 1986, this story follows Kate's daughter Louise who has returned home to her family's home to live again. She doesn't know if she wants to sell the house or move on, but finds herself drawn back to her family's red garden. The red garden causes something in her to change and has her thinking of a young man she hasn't seen since she was a child. 

"King of the Bees" (5 stars)-Is the last story in the book and I would imagine takes place in the 1990s or there about due it being about Louise's son, James. I think this was a lovely way to anchor all of the stories. You get to see some echoes of past stories in this one. You have parents doing their best to keep their son alive and healthy and him pushing at anything that has him chained to them. But in the end, he realizes what his father felt for him after he passes and now what he feels as a father.