Everybody, including her mother, believes that Kate's father committed suicide. Determined to prove otherwise, Kate sets out on a fascinating and sometimes hysterical journey through antebellum law and medicine. Set in 1860s Nashville and told with a biting wit, determined Kate finally discovers the truth - but at what cost? Will she ruin her own life trying to defend the life of her dead father?
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1860, in the area around Nashville, Tennessee
The story opens with a news article reporting the shooting death of one Brian Seaver shortly after being seen entering the home of a Mr. James Rayburn. The prologue ends and the rest of the tale is told from the perspective of 18 year old Kate Seaver, Brian's daughter who was waiting outside for her father prior to the shooting. Brian, though shot inside Rayburn's home, actually managed a few steps outside, falling into Kate's arms before expiring. The subsequent police investigation rules suicide, but Kate is convinced it was murder. She then makes it her mission to bring Rayburn to trial. In the meanwhile, the reader gets to know the daily life of Kate and her mother, a local doctor (not traditionally trained, as in official medical degree, more like mountain medicine doctor). The reader sees the family doing their best to heal and make peace with the emotional blending of their new reality and the memory of deceased Brian.
While all this is going on, Kate also finds she's gotten herself a suitor in Brice Rockwell, an up and coming doctor (of the medical school variety). Brice also happens to come from money, which causes a clash with Kate's more modest surroundings, but Brice finds her so hot he doesn't seem to care much. This growing relationship between Kate and Brice gets some serious side eye from Kate's best friend, Danny, who has eyes for Kate himself but sadly finds he's been firmly locked into friendzone territory.
The reader is also given some backstory on how Seaver & Rayburn came to know each other and what possibly led up to the fatal confrontation. Seaver was a dreamer and a well-liked entrepreneur who partnered with Rayburn to start a shipping company. After a couple years though, the business starts to show signs of struggling and Seaver's once blissful marriage is also starting to show a few hairline cracks. Seaver himself slips into a state of habitual drunkenness. Rayburn convinces Seaver to move the company from Knoxville to Nashville. Shortly after arriving in Nashville, Seaver begins to feel that he's somehow been cheated out of company profits... and so begins the downfall of the partnership. But is that the whole truth and nothing but the truth? As you might expect, the full story isn't disclosed til tale's end.
I admit, it did take me some chapters to get into this story but after awhile it really started growing on me! I think part of my struggle might have been my confusion while trying to feel out the overall vibe of the story. Some of the early chapters had some heavy religious seasoning, so was this Christian fiction? Then there were some understandably politically geared passages (as this novel takes place around Civil War era). But then what once seemed religiously geared would be offset with a few sections of surprisingly detailed descriptions of people taking care of bathroom business. Oh, and then there's horndog Brice. That man and his hormones! The reader gets whole sections of dialogue / description either eluding to or full on talking about his sexual urges, need for almost non-stop gropefests, erections, secretions ... frequency and all. I really started to feel for all the wear and tear on that poor girl's body. Makes me so glad to live in a time where I can say ENOUGH! and actually be heard and acknowledged! {Let me just clarify though, there are some scenes later on in the story that I would say would disqualify this one from Christian Fiction territory for most readers of the genre.}
I loved me some Danny though. I had to laugh when Kate basically tells him she never thought about him romantically because he was always so nice, like a brother and Brice just wore her down with his persistence until he grew on her. Danny comes back with "So the way to win a woman's heart is to annoy her into it?" He only gets better as the story progresses. I liked him even more after he grew comfortable in his sassy, flirtatious side.
I also loved the relationship between Kate and her mother. I especially like the version of Kate's mom that gets sad and decides to dip into the moonshine jug to get happy again. That's a fun mom! But also sober, she was a really enjoyable character to read. I liked how she tried to guide Kate the best she could but also left enough space for Kate to live her own life and make her own mistakes.
Fans of classical literature or historical fiction should have a good time with this one. A number of times I felt some Jane Austen-esque characteristics within the plot and characterizations in this novel. Jane Austen -- as far as the courting / coupling processes and family interactions -- but if you plopped one of her storylines in the middle of The South during the rise of the abolition movement. As far as the historical fiction aspect, I also liked the inclusion of descriptions of mountain medicine and folklore and how it was put up against the developing modern medicine of that era. I tend to geek out at anything that has to do with the history of medicine, so that element totally spoke to me.
There was only a couple knocks I would give this story. One being that sometimes the dialogue would sound a little more modern than I would expect from people of 1860s Southerners. The other being the ending. I was a little unsatisfied with it. I was hoping for a more solid wrap-up regarding all those tangled up emotions between Brice, Kate and Danny. However, I did read that there is a sequel in the works so those question marks I had may be easily answered in the follow up.
FTC Disclaimer: Author Belle Blackburn kindly provided me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions above are entirely my own.
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