Once, they were the happiest family under the sun, crabbing and fishing and painting on beautiful Edisto Island in South Carolina’s lowcountry.
Then everything went wrong, and twenty years later the Bennett family is still in pieces. Mary Ellen still struggles to understand why her picture-perfect marriage came apart. Daughter Meg keeps a death grip on her own family, controlling her relationships at a distance. And eldest daughter, Julia, left it all behind years ago, forging a whole new life as an artist and academic in Manhattan. She’s engaged to an art dealer and has no intentions of returning to Edisto. Ever.
Then an emergency forces Julia back to Edisto to care for her three young half-siblings. She grudgingly agrees to stay a week. But there’s something about Edisto that changes people. Can Julia and her fractured family somehow manage to come together again under that low-hanging Edisto moon?
My take: Every so often, a book comes along that is beautiful, uplifting, and heartbreaking. Moon Over Edisto is one such book. Told from multiple viewpoints, Moon Over Edisto is the story of the Bennett women—women whose lives were irrevocably changed by the betrayal of the most important man in their lives, women who still bear the scars 20 years later. Their grief, their bitterness, their joy, and their anger are palpable as they navigate circumstances they never asked for. And in the end, they come out stronger than they ever imagined they could be.
For being a novel by a Christian publisher, the faith thread in this book is pretty light. But I wasn't bothered by that—I'm not of the opinion that every "Christian" book has to be overtly Christian. Sometimes, you can just read a good story ... and Moon Over Edisto certainly is a good story!
This is easily one of the best books I've read this year. I highly recommend it!
My rating: 5 stars
Buy the book.
About the author: Beth Webb Hart, a South Carolina native, is the best-selling author of Grace at Low Tide and The Wedding Machine. She serves as a speaker and creative writing instructor at schools, libraries, and churches throughout the region, and she has received two national teaching awards from Scholastic, Inc. Hart lives with her husband and their family in Charleston.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product free for review from Amazon.com through it's Vine reviewer program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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