Can you both enjoy reading a
book, and be slightly disappointed in it at the same time? I think you can, because this is how I felt
while reading Go Away Home by Carol
Bodensteiner. The main character of the
story is Liddie Treadway, an Iowa farmgirl in the early 1900s. She has big dreams of leaving the farm, and
making her own way in the city as a seamstress.
When her sister becomes pregnant out of wedlock, and is subsequently
sent away from home in shame, Liddie feels that her chance is slipping away. It falls even further from her grasp when her
father is badly injured and dies. But,
finally, after much waiting and hoping, Liddie is allowed to move to a nearby
city, where she becomes an apprentice to a seamstress. She then comes into contact with a local
photographer, and develops both a talent and a skill for photography. Her dream of traveling around the world to
countries like France seems to be coming true.
As Liddie grows and changes, she begins to feel the pull of the farm and
simple country life calling her back home.
She swore she’d never marry a farmer, but when Liddie finds true love
with Joe, who used to be her family’s farm hand, she must decide if she’s
willing to give up all of her dreams and find a new dream.
The characters in this book are
wonderful, and lovable. Liddie is
written in such a way that she feels like someone you could know. I felt myself wishing I could point out to
her that she was about to make a big mistake, and felt relief when she finally
made the right choice. The secondary
characters were equally well-written, and very true-to-life. Who of us doesn’t know an Amelia who makes a
mistake that haunts her for the rest of her life? And a Minnie who struggles with the desire
for a child? And then there’s Joe, who
fell in love with Liddie through letters, and came home to tell her so. Of course I can’t leave out Thomas, who I
disliked almost immediately, and only grew to dislike more as the story
progressed.
The story has a great setting
against the backdrop of a country on the brink of war. Although the book covers a timespan of
several years, it’s obvious how the unrest in Europe became more and more
worrisome to those in America.
So far it would seem that I’ve
raved about all the things I enjoyed in this book, so where did the
disappointment come in? I felt like this
story was always on the edge of some sort of big conflict, and then it just
didn’t happen. It seemed like it was
constantly building towards something, but it never materialized. It didn’t seem to follow that story form we
all learned about in school: introduction, conflict, climax, resolution. While Liddie did have her share of problems
and struggles, everything always seemed to just naturally work out, without a
lot of fuss or bother. And I absolutely
HATED the ending. Truthfully, this story
is probably an accurate depiction of life, where days flow into weeks, weeks
become years, and eventually you realize your life is passing. This is the story of one girl’s life, with its
good parts, and bad parts. And I know
that sometimes life doesn’t end happily, but I wanted more from this book! I did admire Liddie’s tenacity and her
ability to pick up the pieces and start over.
I would like to know what happened to her family in a few years when the
Great Depression hit. Maybe there will
be a sequel.
So there are my (very
long-winded) thoughts on this book. Do I
think it’s worth your time to read?
While I did have some disappointments along the way, I liked this book
overall. It has more of steady pace than
a lot of the thrillers I’ve been reading lately, and that was a nice change. I think it’s a great book for relaxing and
recalling simpler, happier times. It’s worthy
of a place on your fiction shelf.
Happy Reading!
Lyndsie
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for this review.
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